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BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS
“Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto him, whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?” (Matt. 15:32-33). On this occasion, as on many others, a vast throng of people had pressed around
Jesus. They were so intent on following him that they had not eaten for three
days. Jesus, out of compassion for them, determined to feed them. Being in some
sort of wilderness area, his disciples could see no way of feeding them and wanted
to know where the Lord could obtain enough bread to feed the crowd. Then Jesus,
by a miracle, took the seven loaves and a few fishes and fed a multitude which
consisted of “four thousand men, beside women and children.” Had his disciples
not been so short sighted they would have known the source of the food.
But in this article we are not concerned with physical food. Just as the crowd hungered around Jesus, so men are hungering to be fed spiritually. We then ask the question: “Whence should we have so much bread …?” Where shall men go to find that which will satisfy the hunger of the spiritual man? Men turn to many sources to find that which will satisfy the spiritual appetite, but many of them are the wrong sources. To feed his spirit, man sometimes turns to his own strength. He will fail miserably in his attempts to be spiritually filled by doing this. Others turn to the religious creeds of men to be fed. These still leave a void which cries out to be filled. Still others turn to philosophy to satisfy the needs of the soul. Again, failure is evident. Even in Paul’s day men had turned to philosophy, but were always left with a great emptiness, for these philosophies were vain (Acts ; Col. 2:8). Man can be spiritually filled only by going to the right source. Jesus said,
“Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting
life” (John
). The true bread of life comes from God (John
). Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John
). Where then can man turn to be fed? Only to Jesus and his word. The Bible has
been belittled as being passé and outdated, but it still contains the only bread that will give spiritual
life. Even as he was being tempted by Satan Jesus said, “It is written, Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God” (Matt. 4:4). The world in our troubled times seeks tranquility of mind, but
it seeks in the wrong places. Men cry out, “where can we obtain bread in this
wilderness?” Almost as if in reply Jesus answers, “I am the bread of life!” Still,
the world will not accept him. How strange that men reject the only thing that
will keep them from spiritual starvation, or as Jesus said of the multitudes,
from “fainting in the way.”
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). With so plain
a promise, why won’t hungry and thirsty souls turn to the word of God? Many will
learn too late where to turn in order to obtain “bread in the wilderness” of this
world. – Bill Moseley
AND ANOTHER THING
(Pains We Must Endure)
Seems like there are a lot more “pains” running around now than there used to
be! Like the young man I saw driving (or flying) his car down the street as if
it were his own private runway. He didn’t seem to like the way a “little old lady”
was herding her car along, and since we were all “in a bunch” at the time, I couldn’t
help overhear the choice name he had for her. Tell you what – he gave me a bigger
pain than she gave him!
My list along this line could go on and on. There are parents who think public places are made to yell and scream at their young children, call them all sorts of things and then threaten them. You’ve never heard it? Well, you’ve probably never been to WalMart then! Such folks are a real “pain!” On the other hand, there are some teenagers with big mouths who think that parents are there just for them to smart off to. Real pains! And as bad, if not worse, are parents who put up with it. Then there are folks who just seem to enjoy being rude, especially to older people. Look in the dictionary under “pain” and you will find their picture right next to it. Or “Christians” who claim to be, and act like they’re not! Or husbands and wives who treat each another like their worst enemy. And people who are always coming into Bible classes or worship services late (you knew that one was coming, didn’t you?). Or folks who berate the waitress because the food was no good. Real pains. Well, my chest feels lighter now, but I’ll probably run across another pain tomorrow. Reading this may be a pain to you, but thanks anyhow. – Bill Moseley |