Does it seem as though you spend all your time traveling? Maybe it is stuck behind the wheel as you shuttle the kids to their various activities, multiple shopping trips, repair errands, social calls. Or maybe your work takes you to different places, security checkpoints, lost luggage, hotel lobbies, and boring cable. I don’t know about you but all the travel can get old. It is fun and exciting at first, but then the excitement wears thin.
I don’t travel enough to get frequent flyer miles. If I did, I know where I would go. I would take about three weeks and travel __________, and take it very slow. What would you put in that blank? Where would you like to travel? Where would you use your frequent flyer miles if you could?
It seems as though Jesus is always traveling. He has been in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee so many times. He has been to the seashore and back. As a good Jew, He has been to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. Even from the beginning of His life, traveling was a big component. His birth happened while Mary was on a trip!
Our itinerary takes us today with Jesus on one of His speaking stops. He has been there three days, teaching, preaching, healing, and basically, transforming lives. People don’t seem to get enough of Him. They want to spend more time, but practical things seem to get in the way. Food! Their pesky stomachs need it.
You can only carry a pack lunch for so many days. Bread gets old and hard to eat after a couple of days. And bread was a staple of their diet. We label this food group ‘carbs’ to obscure our understanding. Most cultures have carbs as the main part of what they eat. Grains or rice seem to be the preferences. I think we have perfected carbs, molding them into so many delicious and fattening forms. Yum!
My wife was reading an article the other day that said many restaurant portion sizes are eight times larger than recommended. No wonder we have trouble with our weight. It is time to routinely use takeout boxes, time to share a meal, rather than each getting my own.
So 4000 people have gathered and used up the food they had brought with them and the meeting is breaking up. Jesus is getting ready to go on to His next place, but some of the people have a long journey. They need some food to ensure they make it home.
So Jesus challenges His disciples to provide some food. He presents the dilemma to them and sees if they have learned anything about the power of God at work in His life. They haven’t. But Jesus still provides.
Have you learned the lessons you need for this journey we call life?
The Arnold Journey 