Unsatisfied

Unsatisfied
Words of Faith 1-3-2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Mark 8
During those days, another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, [2] "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. [3] If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."
[4] His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"
[5] "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.
"Seven," they replied.
[6] He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. [7] They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. [8] The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. [9] About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, [10] he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

The feeding of four thousand comes just two chapters after the feeding of five thousand. Is this just more of the same? Actually, there are several differences between the two miraculous events.
In Mark 6, Jesus had compassion for a predominantly Jewish crowd that was hungry. In Mark 8, Jesus was in the region of the Decapolis and had similar compassion but on a predominantly Gentile crowd. We may not see the difference, but in the time of Jesus, these were two very different groups.
The Jewish crowd of 5,000 had not eaten all day, but the Gentile crowd of 4,000 had not eaten in three days. In fact, the Gentile crowd was famished to the point Jesus thought they might collapse on the way home!
So, there were some significant differences between the settings of these two miracles, but one thing was the same-- the response. In each case of miraculous feeding, not one person even bothers to say thank you!
If you read the Gospels carefully, you will see that when Jesus performed a healing or exorcism, the people were usually in awe and praised God. But in both the feeding of 5000 hungry Jews and 4000 hungrier Gentiles, there was no worship of God, no thanksgiving, no gratitude. Not even a "Yay God!" Instead, we find this interesting phrase: "The people ate and were satisfied (Mark 6:42, 8:8)."
The Greek word translated as "satisfied" actually means "to be gorged" or to be "supplied food in abundance." In modern terms, they were stuffed to the gills! They ate all they could possibly eat, and there were still basketfuls of food left over! It is the feeling we get when we go a little beyond a good meal and eat too much. It is that Thanksgiving Day or Christmas feast feeling.
But here's the thing. We also know that when we are "stuffed," sleepiness can cause us to fail even to be gracious. Here, Jesus performed a stunning miracle of nature, multiplying a few loaves and fish into an abundance of food, more than the crowd could consume, and no one even said thanks or praised God! Amazing. But such things happen to this day.
We live in a world where God readily supplies us with abundance. In the physical provision of life, most of us do not pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." More often, we pray, "Lose me this day, my daily pound!" We are so abundantly blessed that we can somehow forget to give thanks.

And even in the realm of the Spirit, God has blessed us with such abundance we cannot contain it! Never has a generation had more access to the Word of God, sound teaching, and spiritual truth than this generation. And never has the church been so sleepy or complacent.
We can access excellent teaching and preaching on the airways, in bookstores, and over the Internet. Still, we need help putting that Word into action. Is it possible that we eat until we are "satisfied" and then fail to give thanks or respond in faith?
The answer is to be unsatisfied. At least in matters of the Spirit, we need to be continually hungry and, at the same time, grateful for the abundance of His blessing. Give thanks for every daily blessing and provision. Respond in awe to even the simplest revelation of His truth. Give thanks for the most minor insight from His Word. Rejoice in the tiniest morsel of manna. Respond obediently to a single insight from God and obey quickly in the call upon your life. Don't get satisfied! Don't get stuffed! Respond! Obey! Give thanks!

Lord, I don't want to nod off in a satisfied stupor. Make me unsatisfied in Your Spirit. Cause me to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Thank you for the Word of God, the Bread of Life. Thank You for the teachers and preachers that You use to nourish me. Thank You for the challenges and opportunities that You put before me. Invigorate my life and faith! Awaken my walk with You in Your Spirit! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.