Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"
And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."
(Matthew 15:34)
7 days before Christmas let us explore the concept of provision.
The feeding of the 4,000 with seven loaves is lesser known than the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves. We know these were two separate events (Matthew 16:9-10). The important lesson to learn is that God will provide for our needs. Many times He will provide more than what we need. There were seven loaves and a few fish. When the feeding was over there were seven baskets of leftovers.
We have been taught to separate our wants from our needs. In today’s culture the want and the need seem almost the same. It is easy to distinguish between the two. A want is something which, if not obtained, would not keep us from living a healthy, fruitful, enjoyable life. A want might make life a little easier, but that is all. A need that is not met would cause life to be drastically altered in some fashion. Understanding the difference between want and need will allow us to know how to thank God when He meets our need and not necessarily our want.
There is one thing we must keep in mind. None of us would have our needs met in a supernatural way if a baby had not been born. A baby changes everything.
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Many thanks to Randy Tompkins, President of Cornerstone Consultants and member of the 4:12 Network for sharing and permitting me to share these Christmas devotions with you. I hope they will serve as a daily reminder for you of the meaning of Christmas and will encourage you to be a leader who points people toward Christ during these very special days.
