Commandment 45: The Servant Life.
“(They do not need to go away). Give ye them to eat.” Mt. 14:16
Often as Christians we become a referral service rather than a direct source provider. The same Holy Spirit that worked through Christ dwells in every believer and we can learn what we need to know from Him in order to do what we have been called to do as disciples. Many times, we pass up opportunities to help someone in need because we lack the confidence to step up to the plate and believe that God can use us. Yet if we truly are the body of Christ then we are connected to the Head (Christ) and he can and will empower us to be his hands and feet when the need is before us.
Jesus spent much of his time preparing the disciples for their ministries that would come after he was gone. Not only did he demonstrate clearly to them that they were capable of doing the things he had done, He also told them that they would do even greater things than he did because he would be returning to the Father.
Too many Christians think their work as believers is to live in such a way that they can go to heaven when they die. But Christianity is not about dying, it's about living. It is easy to forget that what Christ did for us on the Cross took care of our getting to heaven, and that the reason the Church is still here is to spread the message of Christ on earth. The way we live is not so we can go to heaven, but it is because we have been accepted by Christ that we live this way. By being living examples and sharing the Good News of Christ with others, we can take others with us when we leave for our eternal abode.
Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, as Christians, we always have something to give to others. We especially have something to give to those who don't know Christ. We can give them eternal life. Jesus said, "Freely ye have received, freely give." (Matt. 10:8) He also told the disciples when he appeared to them after the resurrection, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." (John 20:22,23)
If that doesn't mean that his disciples have been given the power to forgive repentant sinners on behalf of Christ, what does it mean?
Jesus also called us to do benevolence and service on his behalf: "Ye give them to eat,” he told them that day as they considered the hungry crowd who had come to hear the Master and wondered how they could find something to give them in the way of food.
Today in America we see the government taking over work that the Church has been called to do. This not only doesn't work, it only delivers part of the package. As the Church we give bread to the hungry and help to those in need, but we also give the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven. That, the government cannot do, nor does it want to.
As God's Church, we must resist the temptation to give bread without the Word of God. I don't mean that we only give if someone accepts Christ as their savior, but it does mean that we give his Word and promises with the bread so that they have an opportunity to receive and eat the Bread of Life that Jesus provided for them. Giving bread alone brings a very temporary solution, though certainly a needed one. Giving bread with God's Word can change someone's life forever.
In this busy world we live in today, we can sometimes forget the really important things, in our efforts to keep up with the rapid pace of life. Do your best to avoid that. If you don't take time for others, you're doing yourself no good. You need them as much as they need you. We all need each other. Jesus was God with us when he was on the earth and even he needed others to do what he was called to do. So, he took a small group of men and spent time pouring his life into them.
When Jesus bumped into life's realities, he wasn't too busy to bother. He could have said, "Hey, I've got the weight of saving the whole world on my back, how about giving me a break? Get those guys at the Temple to help you; isn't that what you pay them for?"
No, he stopped along the way to help blind people, poor people, sick people, dead people, grieving people, lepers, soldiers, foreigners, children, and in the end when he was about to take his last breath, he took time for a death row inmate he met in jail.
So, the next time you have opportunity, remember what Jesus said:
"You give them something to eat."
Practice love and charity and you will see that it not only helps and changes others; it does the same for you. Give giving a try. You won't regret it.
Craig Marlatt