“So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to His disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.” (Mark 8:6-7 NLT)
The clear purpose of blessing is to multiply the fruit of that blessing to benefit others, but why is that necessary and so powerful? Why can’t we just bask in our blessings, but never share them? The power of blessing is only realized when it’s shared.
What if the disciples had only shared among themselves when they discovered the miracle of multiplication of the fish and bread by Jesus? Of course, Jesus wouldn’t have allowed it but think of the implications. Thousands of men, women, and children would have had to journey home hungry. For some, it may not have been a big deal, but some may have literally dropped over from hunger.
Warren Wiersbe summed it up this way when he wrote: “God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing.” The miracle of the loaves and fishes wasn’t simply a means of gaining popularity or expanding Jesus’ ministry, it was to address felt needs in real people whose lives would have been touched for all eternity by the blessing of a meal. Blessings are to be avenues of opportunity for us to exalt Jesus and expand His eternal Kingdom and we can often do that in very simple ways.
John Calvin wrote: “The world was no doubt made, that it might be the theater of the divine glory.” Everything we see, taste, touch, or smell has divine implications. Everything around us shouts life or death, goodness or evil, heaven or hell. We are blessed to be an instrument of God’s eternal blessing to someone else. Kindness should beget kindness; love, love; blessing, blessing. A. W. Tozer wrote: “The Spirit-filled life is not a deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.”
The Spirit of God is the Author of every work of God in and through us and must be the initiator of every blessing we receive and offer to others. Prayer is the doorway to being blessed and understanding why we are blessed. In the story above, need initiated prayer opened the door for unexpected and unprecedented miracles. No one had ever fed thousands of people with seven loaves and a few small fish, but Jesus did because He asked His Father to bless what they had.
Are you asking the Lord to bless what you have and multiply its usefulness to His glory? Or are you begging God to give you more so you can hoard it for yourself? We’re blessed to share with those the Lord has put in our spheres of influence, not to bolster our ego or increase our online presence, but to glorify the Lord who provided it in the first place.
As Jesus lovers and followers, it is our sacred duty to share what the Lord has shared with us, whether, material or spiritual. The principle that changed my life was when I learned I can’t outgive God. When I was able to change my attitude from “mine” to “His,” my world changed forever. Having never made very much money in my lifetime it was sometimes rare that I had anything to share with others, but then I realized that kindness is a great blessing to share and the Lord had given me an abundance of that.
The point is, in whatever way the Lord has blessed you, use that to be a blessing to someone else. Remember Jesus’ words in Luke 6:38: “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 