Needing A Feeding

We can read about the feeding of the five thousand in all four of the Gospels. These very familiar passages have prompted many of my prayers for pastors. Mark 6:31-33 records that Jesus said to His disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

Have you ever wondered how many moments of rest, meals, and planned time with family have been interrupted or completely wiped off the calendar when pastors are called away to serve the urgent or perceived immediate needs of others? Please read these as an opportunity to pray for them and their families and appreciate them, not to feel guilty if you have called them in need, nor to hesitate in the future. Pastors pour out their lives in service to God, and the people God calls them to shepherd and serve, but it does come at a great sacrifice that we should recognize, appreciate, and respond to in righteousness. The reward to the pastor is to see their church members grow and flourish as branches on the Vine of Christ.

As consumers of their sermons each week we should become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His power in us. We are filled with the Word of God that abides in us as we abide in Jesus. These weekly “feedings” are not mere snacks to get us through another week but to grow and reap a harvest of fruitfulness, not just reseed what the world swept away each week. 

Every church service brings the opportunity to increase our knowledge of God, adding to our capacity to love more, share and serve more, to have more wisdom and understanding, and increase our submission to the power of the Holy Spirit to make us fruitful and to cease giving in to our earthly temptations, frustrations and feelings. Hate, anger, revenge, jealousy, lacking, loneliness, weariness are all symptoms of snacking on Scripture instead of feeding on itto nurture our lives so living it becomes our nature, our character, our lifestyle and life source, not merely refill like a gas tank to go a few more miles.

Jesus fed the 5,000 and they began to scheme to make Him the King and chased Him around the Sea of Galilee the next day for another meal, with someone to heal, but not understanding His much bigger plan and purpose. They were thinking daily bread, and He was here as the eternal Bread of Life. They wanted to refill and Jesus was here to fulfill.

Paul writes in his letters to the people he has preached to that their response to put his preaching into practice is worth every moment of pain, abuse and imprisonment he has to endure. Their righteousness in Christ is his reward for all his sacrifice and suffering. Every pastor desires to see their Sunday sermons put into practice that week in every relationship, opportunity, family, school, workplace, leader, influencer – in every life of every member no matter how young or old because we all have glory to give and we all still need to seek to know Him in every day and decade of life.

We must ask ourselves, what is our motivation to “go to church?” Are we weary weekly snackers or people who come hungry for the message, preparing for an ever-increasing abundant life? Are we faithful to nurture our personal relationship with God every day in the Word and prayer? In this month of expressing an increase of appreciation to our pastors and praying for them and the Church, we encourage you to let them know how their words and deeds have caused your life as a follower of Jesus to grow and flourish.