As The Crowds Follow

Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. John 6:2

As we study the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John it is very revealing as the scriptures can cause us to see ourselves in the “plot”. As we go thru chapter 6 we see “great multitudes” following in the beginning.

As we journeyed through the chapter we sat as if we were also at the group meeting to figure out how to provide food for the multitude. I found myself seeing an impossible task. Each of us tried to relate with either Phillip or Andrew. Phillip, being practical says, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little”. Who could argue with his reasoning? Then Andrew, being impractical but optimistic offers what he sees.

Then the teaching lesson from Jesus, they quickly saw that what is recorded in the 18^th chapter of Luke “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God”. Then we experience the compassion of Jesus as he provided as much as they wanted. We were challenged to see where we would have been, either as a disciple or a face in the crowd. Are we following because of what God can do for us or are we alongside him serving, being taught to fulfill the needs of others first.

So where are you today? If in the crowd how long do you stick around before something God asks of you and you begin to fall behind and eventually stop walking? Jesus, as he walks, (at one time on the water), is laying some foundational truths that will either cause you to fall back or make your way to the front and even step up and be called “disciple”.

The distinction seems to be weather you believe in the miracles and blessings or you believe in Him who the Father sends. When asked Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Later He offers the great exchange. After confronting them with the truth of “you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled”, but rather And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

So what’s it going to be, bread that lasts a day or the Bread that is everlasting?

We then come to one of the saddest scriptures in the Bible John 6:66 “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more”.  I’ll leave it at that… Rob Russomano is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and serves full-time at America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 1-3:36

Think About This: If God cares for you, why need you care too? Can you trust Him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens, He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT