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Humble Hero
In the production of earth’s harvests, God is working a miracle
every day. Through natural agencies, He accomplishes the same
work that Jesus did in feeding the multitude. People prepare the soil
and sow the seed, but life from God causes the seed to germinate.
It is God who feeds millions from earth’s harvest fields every day.
People credit the working of His power to natural causes or to hu-
man instrumentality. They glorify man in place of God and make
His gracious gifts a curse instead of a blessing. God wants us to
recognize Him in His gifts. To accomplish this, Christ performed
His miracles.
A Valuable Lesson in Ecology
After that large group had eaten, an abundance of food was left.
But Jesus said, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing
is lost.” The lesson had two parts. Nothing is to be wasted. Gather
up everything that will relieve earth’s hungry ones. And there should
be the same carefulness in spiritual things. The people wanted their
friends at home to share in the bread that Christ had blessed. So
those who were at the feast were to give to others the bread that
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comes down from heaven, to satisfy the hunger of the heart. They
were to repeat what they had learned of the wonderful things of God.
Nothing was to be lost.
The miracle of the loaves teaches us to depend on God. When
Christ fed the five thousand, there was no food nearby. Here He
was, in the wilderness. But He knew that the large crowd would feel
hungry and faint, for He was one with them in their need for food.
They were far from home, and many had no money to purchase food.
God’s leading had placed Jesus where He was, and He depended on
His heavenly Father for the means to meet the need.
We too are to depend on God. We are not to plunge into diffi-
culties and misuse the abilities God has given us. But when, after
following His directions, we are brought into tight places, we are to
seek help from Him who has infinite resources at His command. He
will help every person who comes into difficulty because of trying
to keep the way of the Lord.