As we journey together through Lent, Christians throughout Columbia will be sharing their own beautifully written personal meditations. Each will be accompanied by a corresponding scripture reading, and be linked to that passage in the Holy Bible. If you would like to join us on Columbia’s Lenten journey, please submit your personal meditation by email. Especially meaningful submissions will be printed. Let us continue our Lenten journey, day by day, to its glorious culmination on Easter Sunday.
Scripture reading: John 6:1-15
As a mother of four, there are times when I feel if one more thing is asked of me, I am going to just fall apart. The constant demands of meeting the needs of children, school volunteer work, church activities, carpooling to sporting events, are just a few of the things pulling at me each day. There are two important things that I was able to get from this scripture, which I have read many, many times before.
The first is that if you give God what you have – time, money, talents, resources – He is able to bless and multiply those things beyond our imagination. That is why we are to seek Him first each day. When the young boy gave Jesus what little he had, Jesus not only blessed the 5,000 people, but there was overflow. When you fill yourself with Jesus each day, you are completely satisfied with Him, and all the other blessings in your day are just overflow. But just as the Israelites did when they wandered with Moses in the desert, we have to go out and get the manna, the life bread which is Jesus, first thing each day. When you put Him first with your time and resources, He promises to bless you. The question is faith. Do you believe He will do what He says He will do?
The second thing that inspired me was the very last sentence of the passage: “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.” You see, even Jesus needed to pull away from others in order to spend time alone with God in prayer. It is mentioned in Mark 1:35 also: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” Jesus needed to begin each day before He came into contact with others, by Himself with God in prayer. If Jesus needed this, how much more do we need this? We all tend to use up our time and resources the way we feel we should and then give God our leftovers. But as Mark states: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you.”
Just as the young boy gave what little bread and fish he had, only enough to feed one person, and Jesus multiplied it by thousands, think of what your life would be like if you gave first to God, and then see, as the young boy did, an abundance with leftovers to space.
Angie Hillman
Columbia, South Carolina
You might also like to read:
- Bible Verse of the Day
- Daily Bible Guide
- Growing in Christ
- Bible Study Tools Online
- The Jesus Walk Bible Study Series
A discussion of today’s Lenten meditation is encouraged. If you would like to participate, please feel free to write a comment in the space below. There are many different outlooks and interpretations of scripture passages and, the more we share, the more we learn.
Sharon is a member of the Community Church of the Midlands that meets at Seven Oaks Community Center at 200 Leisure Lane in Columbia and is a frequent participant, with her husband Douglas, at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral located at 1100 Sumter Street in Columbia.
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If you enjoyed this article, you can find more at Sharon's Columbia Biblical Studies Examiner homepage.
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