Mark 6:34-37 How can we feed them?
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 30, 2018, Mark 6:34-37
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
(Understanding the Text) What did Jewish loaves of bread look like? I picture pita bread. I couldn’t find a reliable source of information for this. Bread and fish must have been the main source for food as that is mentioned a lot.
They left one side of the lake and intentionally planned to land in a deserted place far away from villages so that they could have some time alone to rest and be together, but when they pulled in and got out of the boat, Jesus saw a large crowd. The crowd must have been watching from a hill and once they were sure where the boat would land, they began approaching. Thus, when the disciples first pulled the boat in, they may not have seen lots of people, but by the time everything was tied up and they were ready to get out, the people had become visible.
(Revelation of God) Because of His love for us, Jesus’ immediate reaction was compassion rather than irritation. He saw the people drawn to Him even though they did not understand even the basics of heaven. They were looking for something and running toward it not knowing what it was. He saw that they were open to learning, so He taught them. How could He resist students when He was the Teacher? What did he teach them? It took all day. Did He respond to questions? Did He ask them questions?
When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
(Understanding the Text) At the end of the day, the disciples advised Jesus to send the crowd away so that they could get food. The people rushed so quickly to try to get to where Jesus was that they did not come well-provisioned. Even if they had a little food with them, it would have been eaten earlier in the day. The disciples were thinking of others, but they may have also been thinking of their own stomachs. They had been hungry earlier because of a different crowd. They had been filled as they ate on the lake, but now after a long day with this new crowd, they were hungry again.
(Application) The disciples were planning that people would find their own sustenance when Jesus shocked them. He told the disciples to give the people food. They were looking at themselves and knew that the only way for them to provide for the people was to buy it. This was a new area of miracles. If there had been a sick person or demon-possessed person, they would have known what to do; Jesus had shown them and given them power. If it were about their own personal welfare, they would have known what to do; they had just come back from the journey Jesus had sent them on where all their needs were supplied. Now, however, Jesus was telling them to supply the needs of others. The only solution that they could think of was money rather than their Lord. Unfortunately today, that is still our first thought. There is a need but no money. We can’t do something because there is not enough money. We need to raise money to get things done. We overlook the fact that we don’t need money; we need the power of God. We need Him to give to us whatever is needed and we will pass it out to others. We need to trust that He will supply our own needs at the same time. Whatever we give to others will not diminish our own strength and sustenance.
(Prayer) Give me this day my daily bread, and remind me that I can depend on You to do what You have promised. Give me the energy and enthusiasm and knowledge of You that I need and help me to communicate with others so that they are empowered also.