I Have Compassion For My People

I Have Compassion For My People (Mark 8:1-9)

 

“In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ‘I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat’” (Mark 8:1,2)

 
Here we see that our Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples and asked them to serve His people. Has Jesus asked to do the same? What was your answer? Before you answer that, first you need to ask yourself, how intimately do I know Jesus?

 
The Lord desires to use each and every one of us, including you, as a vessel for the Living Water.  As we keep drinking from Him and allowing Him to be our spring, He continually nourishes us from Himself as our Heavenly Bread and Living Water from which no one shall hunger or thirst again. As our Lord said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”(John 7:37,38)
 
As you strengthen your relationship with the Lord, you will begin to flow rivers of living waters and become sensitive to the Lord’s will and desires. The Lord would tell you His heart’s desires and His secrets.  You will be the one He calls on to tell you that He has deep compassion towards the thousands of lost souls around you and ask you to go and serve them and bring them food.  You can also be sure that He will remind you that He offered Himself on the cross for each one of them.
 
Our Lord Jesus Christ had thousands around Him who had no food for three days. As you look around you today, you most certainly will see a similar picture with thousands of people who have not had food for years or even a lift time.  Many people in today’s world are busy with the materialistic daily life, their careers, family, friends, and anything “fun” that comes along the way.  They are hungry for spiritual food, but no one around them has any, so they continue going through life hungry.  
 

“And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.” (Mark 8:3)
 
Our most loving, compassionate Lord Jesus Christ does not want to send the crowds home Hungary or else they will collapse on the way.  Is not this amazing grace that the Lord cares and seeks to return us back to Him.  When we keep a distance from His presence, His mercy never tires and He continues working and searching for us, assuring it is not too late to come back to Him and enjoy His love and His food.
 
Do you have the same answer as the disciples when they said, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?” (Mark 8:4) They were wondering where in this remote place can we get enough bread to feed all these people, forgetting that they were with the same Lord of Moses who could feed the millions for forty years in the wilderness.  Is there any thing too hard for the Lord?

 
“He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ And they said, ‘Seven.’” (Mark 8:5).

What we often do not realize is that seven loaves are more than enough if only we would put them in the Lord’s hand.

Jesus never stops asking His servants how many loaves do you have? Always though He receives the same answer from us: “we have little and the need is great.” Do you feel, as Christ’s servant, responsible for feeding God’s people and providing for their spiritual needs as they come from the starving world?
 

“So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.” (Mark 8:6)
 
The disciples offered only what they received from Jesus, which is exactly what each and every one of us must do in our service, give only what receive from the Lord.  Can you obey the Master and do the same, giving to the hungry directly from the Lord’s hands?  It is glorious to see that the doubting disciples, after being touched by Christ’s mercy, they were quickly converted into mature servants and bread distributors.  
 

“They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.” (Mark 8:7)
 
You claim that you love the Lord, but complain that you have few talents to witness about Him. Today though you must remember something, Jesus would like to bless these talents if you would entrust them to Him.  Use the little you have to feed those who are hungry around you.
 
Seven loaves of bread and a few small fish cannot logically feed four thousand, but our Lord Jesus Christ is able to bless the little.  It pleases the Lord to be with you and use the little you have, even your weaknesses so that He can reveal His sufficiency and power. As the Lord said to St. Paul and to each one of us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
 

“So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.” (Mark 8:8)
 
Do you believe the Lord can satisfy everyone you bring to Him? Not only did Jesus feed the thousands, but also there were seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover.  We pray that this what is happening in your ministry, that the Lord is feeding everyone you bring to His feet and that you have leftovers to give to the needy.
 
Our Lord Jesus Christ is making for us a great banquet, and what is leftover in the end is much more than what you will put in at the start.  Jesus has come to give us the abundant life, which can feed you and the whole world.  As He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
 
And now God is asking you, “Will you have compassion and go to feed my precious people?”