Christ's example:  He gave thanks before His meal, do you?

Jesus had the ability not only to help people in their need, but to recognize what their real needs were, and to meet them.  In Matthew 14, Jesus taught, healed, and feed 5,000+ people, with only “five loaves” and “two fish” to work with.  In today’s verse (in Matthew 15), He is feeding 4,000+ people with only “seven loaves” and some “small fish,” perhaps like sardines.  In these beautiful stories about Jesus, we need to be careful not to be so enthralled with the event that we miss the essential truths about Jesus.

“And he took the seven loaves and the fishes,”
This amount of food would hardly feed a couple of children, let alone a crowd of 4,000 people!  But then we need to remember who is handling the meal, it’s Jesus, the Creator.  If He could create the universe in 6 days from nothing, feeding this crowd with a little bread and fish is no problem for Him!

“And gave thanks,”
What humility, the great Creator thanked His Father for the food they were about to eat.  Jesus multiplied the food, and yet He still thanked His Father for this provision.  Evidently, this idea of offering the LORD a blessing for the meal began after the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, and they realized how God had provided for them.

“When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee,” (Deuteronomy 8:10).

In their homes, each father led his family in the blessing for their meal.  This became the Jewish custom.  Jesus isn’t so much following the tradition as He is teaching the people to be thankful and to offer their gratitude to God for His provision.  Of all the people on earth, God meets my daily needs, personally.  I personally need to show Him my thankful heart.

“And brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
Jesus could have used His angels to perform this miracle without any human intervention.  It would have been far more efficient, no doubt.  The angels could have done all the work, and the disciples could have sat back and watched God provide for the needs of this crowd.  But Jesus chose to get His men involved.  Jesus allowed His disciples to be a channel of His blessing to some hungry people.  Food taken from Jesus’ hands and given to people needing to eat, and His disciples are the pipeline.  Jesus uses humans to meet other human’s needs.  Jesus can use us to meet the needs of people around us.

There are so many lessons like this from the events in Jesus’ life which we need to learn.  Why not make your own list of applications you can glean from this story?  Then ask the Lord how you can put these to practice in your life.

Believers be thankful!