Two Little Fishes

Mark 6: 30-44 "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. [31] And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. [32] And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. [33] And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. [34] And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. [35] And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: [36] Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. [37] He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? [38] He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. [39] And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. [40] And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. [41] And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. [42] And they did all eat, and were filled. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. [44] And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men."

A child once said: “The preacher is paid to be good. The rest of us, we're good for nothing!”. When you read the child's statement, you can see how it can be read and interpreted either way. Often if someone lives their life as if they feel they are accountable to Jesus, then those in our periphery say “you must be called to be a preacher”. Yet this is far from the truth.

Each of us who are in or outside of Christ Jesus are accountable to Him in the way we live our daily lives. We are accountable to Him for the way we act and react in the world around us. We are “good for something”, try to be good and faithful because He is ever faith in providing for our needs both in this life and in the life to come.

Today you're going to learn three great lessons from this Scripture: (1) Rest when He provides rest, (2) Reach out to those without a Shepherd, (3) If you expect to get, then give!

Mark 6:30-31  ”And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.  [31] And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”

The Apostles, because of the relationship they had with their Lord, were out teaching others about Jesus Christ. Did you know, you can't tell others about Jesus unless you known Him yourself? And once you know Him, and are building a relationship with Him, you are expected to tell others about this wonderful relationship. The Apostles were being faithful, as we are called to be, and were out leading others to accept Jesus Christ to be their personal Savior.  They had finished their day's work, and returned to their Lord, telling Him the things they had done for Him that day.

Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to be in Jesus. To finish a day's work, then return to His arms for sustenance and love. How different it is to be in Christ as opposed to being in the world, to return to that fount of Joy and say “feed me, Lord, let me rest in You!”.  You know, when you're in the world you wake up, chase some imaginary rainbow, come home beat at the end of the day  and life is so unrewarding. One day flows into the next, as blasé' as water. But when you're in Christ: Oh, the joys! At the end of the day the sheep return to the Shepherd looking for peace and sustenance, looking for a place of rest. As He promised to do, Jesus always provides that place of rest for the tired soul, a place of nourishment for the hungry of heart.

Matthew 11:28-29  “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

There is a time to work for Jesus, as the Apostles did, and a time to rest and allow Him to provide. As Christians we must do both in balance. Too often believers get into a position of laziness and apathy and forget that they are called to work for Jesus, and begin to cry when the hand of the Lord seems to be absent from their lives. We must do as He has called us to do, to be about His business, so at the end of the day we can return to Him for provision and nourishment for another day tomorrow.

Mark 6:34  ”And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”

The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle recorded by all four of the Gospel writers, so it is significant that we understand the truths in this section.

As Jesus was “moved with compassion”, so must we be moved. Why was Jesus so moved? The text tells us, "because they were as sheep not having a shepherd". Oh, what a terrible statement this is. Sheep are animals that, without care, they will harm themselves and get themselves in the vilest of predicaments. Jesus looked out and saw these people, over 5000 of them, who desperately ran around the Lake in order to find some semblance of hope in that terrible world they were living in.

Let me tell you, my friends, the world is desperate for Christ, no matter what man may outwardly say. People are moving around our world today "as sheep not having a shepherd".  People are killing babies, and justifying it in the holy halls of "freedom of expression". People are seeking out psychics and mediums, horoscopes and evil, "because they were as sheep not having a shepherd", and are approaching the ends of their all but too short lives not realizing that the wolf, Satan, waits for their souls on the other side.

If you don't think people need the Lord, consider this dramatic scene. The people saw where Jesus and the Apostles were heading, and as moths are drawn by the light they began to run along the lake. As they ran, they ran through cities excitedly shouting that “Jesus is here, the Savior has come!”. Throngs of people joined in a streaming mass of humanity making its way around the lake, to the point where the crowd grew to 5000 men not counting women and children.

Feel the compassion of our Lord! Express this compassion to those around you. You may be rebuked, yet I tell you, just as I rebuked my friend who tried to lead me to Christ so many years ago, not a day goes by now that I don't praise God for his faithfulness.
 

A woman was having trouble getting her car started after it had stalled in traffic. The man behind her started expressing his resentment for being blocked by blowing his car horn. Finally, worn out by his thoughtlessness, the lady got out of her car and went back to the man. She said, "I can't get my car started. If you'll go look at it and try to start it, I'll sit in your car and blow the horn for you!"

Mark 6:35-36  “And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: [36] Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.”

The disciples needed rest. This is a crucial point: they were tired from their labors, and wanted to rest. This caused them to complain, to demand that the crowd be sent home where they could feed themselves. They wanted to be left alone, and were nearly rude to the Savior in their demands. Yet, notice what our Lord says:

Mark 6:37  ”He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. ...”

I want you to pay attention to this, Beloved, for this is a Divine Principal: If you expect to get, then you must give. Let's look at this from two different angles.

First, if you are not in Christ, then you must give in order to get. You must give your life to Jesus in order to get salvation. You must give your life to Jesus if you expect to inherit eternal life. Too often I hear people say, "I plan on getting in the Church, Pastor, I just need to clean up my life first". Yet Jesus doesn't want you to clean up your life first. He wants you to come to Him just as you are, and give that mess to Him. If you do, He will bless you abundantly, for He will take that life laden with sin, cleanse it, and make a new person out of you.

Second, if you are in Christ, if you have accepted Him to be your Savior and are living your life in Him, then you are a conduit of blessing to those around you. Christ is an endless well of Love and Blessing. He can not be used up, as long as we trust in Him, and He has the ability to over supply our every need. The world needs us to minister Christ to them through our lives, to allow this well of Life to come out from our lives to those around us. God is faithful in provision, but expects His people to be a conduit through which the world comes to know Him.

I imagine that you have all experienced overflowing sinks and stopped up drains in your houses. Our kitchen sink has a garbage disposal on it, one I installed years ago. This disposal takes large leftover chunks of food, chews them up, and allows them to harmlessly pass down the drain. But there's one problem: sometimes the wrong thing gets thrown down the drain. If grease gets poured down the drain, the sink stops being a blessing but becomes a curse. The grease hardens in the drain, and until I pull out the pipes and get the offending matter removed, our kitchen becomes a terrible, smelly place.

The same is true of the Christian life. Our God provides, faithfully provides, and we must be like the drain pipe, funneling the truths and Love of God to the world around us. Only then will others come to know Jesus, and only then will the Church increase as Christ would have it increase. Yet if we allow selfishness to block our lives, we become like the sink. The faucet, God's provision to us, is turned off while we get the drain unplugged by repenting. The Apostles had to see the bigger picture: Jesus came for all men, and only through us do all men come to know Him.

Mark 6:37-38  ”He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?  [38] He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.”

God doesn't want you to be a blessing through your own power, but to provide from the overabundance of what He has provided to you. The Apostles asked, “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? ”, but Jesus refused any such solution. We cannot add to God's provision, we can only give what He has first provided. If you are unsaved, Jesus has given you physical life and a free will. This is what He wants you to turn over to Him: not a self cleaned up life, but your life as it is. He will bless what you offer and return the balance better than it was at the start. If you are saved, Jesus asks you to give what you have on hand. When you do He will bless you with an increase.

Consider the miracles of Jesus. When the leper came to Jesus, Jesus didn't say "get clean first, then I'll heal you". No, the leper brought what he had - a disease - and fully trusted Jesus with it. Give that burden to Jesus and watch it miraculously dissolve. The paralytic cried out from the bed, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me", and was healed. He gave the sickness to Jesus, Jesus returned him to health. Time and time again Jesus heals when we trust Him, Jesus rewards when we offer what we have. Unless you first give it to Jesus, just as it is, then He cannot miraculously give you increase.

Do you know the love of Christ? Then offer that love freely to others, and be a blessing. Do you see another in need? Then give as God has given you, and be a blessing.  The devil desires that you be selfish, that you “keep it to yourself”, that you withhold the free gift to others because “they are strangers, I do not know them”. Yet Jesus says:

Matthew 25:35-40 “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. [37] Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? [38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? [39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? [40]  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
 

A little old cleaning lady, dirt poor and shabbily dressed, tried to join a fashionable downtown Church. The Pastor was concerned about her appearance, and kept putting her off when she tried to discuss membership with him. Finally the Pastor said, "I'll tell you what: you go home and talk to God about it. Later you can tell me what He said".  The lady went away and didn't return. One day the Pastor saw her scrubbing floors in an office building he was visiting, and asked her if she had her talk with God. She said, "Yes, I did. God told me not to get discouraged, but to keep on trying. He said He'd been trying to get into your Church for twenty years with no more success than I had".

As you do for those less fortunate out of the abundance that God has done, then you are doing it to Him. When Jesus said, “Give them food”, the Apostles looked at the vast crowd and the little bit of food they had and were overwhelmed. The task was impossible, and to them the request was ridiculous. Yet when we look with the eyes of unbelief the task is always impossible. When we forget the power of God at our disposal, the task is indeed enormous. God will meet the needs of any and all, if we only put what He has given us at His disposal. When the Apostles did this, look at the results.

Mark 6:40-44 “And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. [41] And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. [42]  And they did all eat, and were filled. [43]  And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. [44]  And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”

When the Apostles repented, and did as their Lord asked, they were not only able to feed the five thousand, but they also has a wealth of food left over. Are you struggling in your lives today? I am told that Brother Lee used to say, “Give to get”, and I can testify that these words from this blessed Saint are true. If you are worrying about every paycheck, scared that you won't make it, then consider: are you hoarding the things that God has provided to you, or are you giving freely? As you give from the abundance of what God has given, He will replenish and reward over abundantly. Are you giving of your time to Christ, or are you devoting all your time to the devil's world? Are you giving of your talents freely as God has given, or are you allowing spiritual laziness to keep you from the abundance that is yours by faith. Heed these words:

1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;  [18] That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;  [19] Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

If you are not in Christ, today is the day to give your life to Him. Only in Him will you ever experience peace and contentment. Only in Him, our Jesus, will you know your eternity in Heaven is secured. Commit your life to Jesus by faith today, right now, without hesitation.