Just Show Up

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 5:34-42 ~~~

~~~Psalm 27~~~John 6:1-15 ~~~

There is a boy here who has 

five barley loaves and two fish;

but what good are these for so many?

It does not say the boy, a child, 

had bread made of the finest wheat.

We do not know the size of the two fish.

It appears that this would never be possible

to feed a hungry crowd.

Consider this crowd,

 all they did was 'show up' to hear Jesus.

Jesus taught at every opportunity;

he was not restricted to the temple area.

This is true for us as well...first we need to 'show up'.

If we come Jesus will take care of everything else.

He will meet all of our needs...he will feed us.

Imagine how surprised the people were when Jesus

blessed this meager offering...when he sent 

the baskets of food passing through the crowd.

I know I would have had serious doubts 

as to whether or not the basket would be empty 

by the time it got to me.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

...the bounty of the Lord...in the land of the living...

We may not use the word 'bounty' in our daily conversations,

but it is a part of the grace before meals

 I learned as a young child.

In fact I often by Bounty paper towels.

They really are very absorbent.

Bounty is a curious word.

A person wanted by the law for a serious crime

 can have a bounty offered for their capture.

The dictionary says...

bounty...good things that are given or provided 

freely and in large amounts.

The goodness of Jesus, in this case of feeding the large crowd,

 comes directly from the 'bounty of the Lord'.

The small portion was offered to Jesus

and his abundant blessing

provided freely more food 

than necessary to feed the large crowd.

Gather the fragments left over, so that 

nothing will be wasted.

In the land of the living all who 'show up'

will be feed through the bounty of the Lord.

Those who did not come to hear Jesus speak that day

were not witnesses to the bounty of the Lord.

Those in the crowd that day did not know

 that they were going to be feed from the bounty of the Lord.

We are Blessed many times 

simply because we 'showed up'

before the Lord.

 ...if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them;

you may even find yourselves fighting against God.

Come before God with no expectations

and see how his bounty is poured out upon your soul.

When we join with God 

his goodness will be multiplied.

There will be more than enough to go around.

~~~Peace~~~