The Leftovers...

August 16, 2011

John 6:10-13

V 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with piees from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten

Some years ago, probably right after I was saved I heard a sermon on this passage, and what the pastor said has always stuck with me. He said that as the disciples were gathering up their leftover food they had their own basket as proof of their unbelief. When faced with the impossible situation of feeding so many people, they failed to turn to the only ONE with any power to help them, Jesus. After He performs the miracle of feeding 5,000 people there are leftovers. I think it’s safe to assume that the leftovers were there for a purpose; I’m satisfied that if Jesus could produce many meals from only one, He could make sure there were just enough and no leftovers. Unless, of course, those leftovers were for a purpose, like these were. I wonder what the 12 disciples were thinking as they were gathering up leftovers and thinking that not only was Jesus able to produce enough food to feed so many He produced more than enough. We cannot, however, just sit back and berate the disciples for their unbelief because we are guilty of the same thing. Have we ever uttered the words, “All I can do is pray…” or “We just have to leave it in God’s hands…”, as if the only real chance for getting what we want is if we have our hands on it or our strength behind it. When the truth of the matter, for us and for the disciples, is the first and best place to go is always Jesus.