Getting Fed

Luke 9:10-17

When I was asked to write another devotional for this year, I responded without hesitation,

“You bet!”  Not that I needed something to add to my “to do list” mind you, but there are certain things I like to be challenged at, one of them being the act of writing down my thoughts.  In this case, however, it was more of an anticipation of finding out what scripture God was going to throw at me.  So, I said, “yes,” and waited.

A few days later, an envelope from the church arrived with the letter of instructions and the

verse chosen inside.  I opened it up and located the verse: “Luke 9:10-17.”  Hmmmm.  Now I’m not a bible scholar, so I had to look it up.  Being near my computer, I summoned the internet and ‘googled’ it (for the unknowing, that means ‘searched’).  Lo and behold, the results page loaded and I saw it: “The story of the loaves and fishes and feeding the crowd of 5,000.” You know, one of THE stories that EVERY CHILD LEARNS IN CHURCH.  WOW.

Now, I’ve always had trouble understanding Luke’s story of the miracle, but the older I get,

and the more I’m around fellow believers at church, the more I tend NOT to believe in ‘coincidences’ anymore.  So, I thought, “How awesome is that, that He wants me to write about it?”  You see the ‘it’, in this case, is the monthly free meal we put on at The Well for the community.  And ‘it’ is something I believe in.

Of course, we call this community dinner by another name.  We use the acronym “J.O.H.N. 6:35,” and base it on the scripture of the same name.  So here’s the good deal about the relationship of these two scriptures: They are both basically saying the same thing.  They both are based on Jesus’ love and compassion for his fellow man.  In Luke, he takes almost nothing and feeds 5,000 with plenty to spare, and in John, he says, more or less, “believe in Me and you won’t hunger”.

So, once a month, we cook a simple meal and open our doors, and feed the crowd.  It’s not about the food.  The crowd isn’t going to starve to death if they miss that one meal.  It’s about the love and compassion that we are called upon to show them.  Everyone is fed spiritually.  We feed them and they feed us.  Love and compassion; everyone hungers for it.

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for guiding us and providing us with such a wonderful ministry to shed YOUR love and compassion throughout our community.  Amen.

Kent Collins