Mark 8:5 “And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.”
Giving to the Lord
God always provides for givers. Givers must have something to give, and givers always do. The Bible teaches that if you will give, you will always have something to give because God has bound Himself by His own honor to make sure that givers have something to give. The surest way to make sure you have is to give.
The story of the Lord Jesus feeding four thousand people in Mark 8 is intriguing to me. The multitude had followed Jesus for three days and had nothing to eat. The disciples recognized that they had no way to provide for the crowd’s need (“From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”). When the Lord took the seven loaves and few small fish that they did have and gave thanks for them, and the disciples distributed some to each person, the Bible says, “So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.” They had more leftovers in the end than they started with!
The truth is, God doesn’t want to give to you; He wants to give through you. If you are lacking something, the best way to get what you need is to give what you have. You ought to be a person who gives to others, but before you give to others, you ought to give to the Lord. For instance, it is easy to practice a song or rehearse a program so that you are prepared. That is fine and good, but before you give anything away to anybody else, you must give it to the Lord first. The most important audience you have is the Lord Jesus!
The Lord can multiply and satisfy. What you have may only be “seven loaves and a few small fishes,” but God can make it a feast for four thousand. What you have isn’t enough until you give it to the Lord first. The folks who ate in Mark chapter 8 were “filled.” What you have will fill others if the Lord multiplies it.
Remember that the Lord gave you what you have. He can multiply and use what you have if you will give it to him first.