Thursday, June 7, 2007

Bits & Pieces: Faith (3)

"And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, 'Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, 'He said that because we did not bring any bread.' But Jesus, aware of this, said, 'You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees," (Matthew 16:5---12).

* Time and again the Lord Jesus sought to move His men from the realm of the natural to the spiritual. Here He chides them for forgetting His past provisions of bread, which should have assured them of His future faithfulness.
We, too, falter in faith when we forget our Lord's unfailing faithfulness in the past.

* One of the most basic lessons the disciples needed to grasp was the trustworthiness of the Lord. So concerned with whether or not their physical needs would be met, they missed the Lord's teaching.
And how often we refuse to faith the Lord out of similar fear!

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