Luke 9:11-17
“11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left.”
Psalms 22:26-28
“26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him — may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nation’s.”

Jesus has been telling the crowds, about 5k men, so figure about 15-20k people,  about the kingdom of heaven and healing those who need it. Imagine that. Telling people about the kingdom of heaven and healing those who need it.

I wonder what a crazy trip that must have been, what kind of a speaker He must have been. I mean, say there were only 5k people there. Jesus is talking to them, telling them about the kingdom of heaven — without a microphone and a P.A. system. And the people heard. Or so they thought they did.

And He healed those who needed it. He must have fixed their physical ailments. Still, healing some blind, crippled, and maimed folks, while letting everyone know about the kingdom of heaven, is no small feat. Pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, He didn’t heal them all the way; He didn’t heal their souls.

Because that comes from us seeking Him. “The poor will eat and be satisfied; those that seek him… ”

There’s an abundance waiting for us, but it seems like all we want is the material things. Sure, start with enough bread and fish to feed 13 or so, feed 5k – 20k folks with that, and still have enough left for 12 baskets of food left over. More crumbs left than there was food to start. That’s the material side, the physical side.

Think about the joy, peace, love, grace, that Christ has given us in His words and in the basket of life that He has blessed. Amazing, a true gift from heaven, and it turned the world 180°.

Yet, when Christ began to lay out what was really required, the crowds bailed. They didn’t want anything to do with the real cost of following Him. They, and we, want the goods without the effort. Let’s go hear the preacher, let’s get Johnny healed, let’s get fed. But don’t ask me to sacrifice to much, OK?

Dear Lord, when you feed me I want to have my soul fed, not just my belly. I am poor. I am starving.

While you’re at it, please give my ears a good cleaning so I can hear what’s important, and take the scales from my eyes so I can see the truth.