Contemplative Bible Reading

John 6:2-5 (New English Translation)

2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. 4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover was near.) 5 Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”

Jesus is about to take five biscuits and two sardines and feed thousands of people.

Jesus and His followers at a lot of meals together. My guess is they skipped a lot of meals together because they didn’t have anything to eat on some days of there walking about the land.

The vast majority of the meals eaten and skipped were normal—not recorded anywhere. They merely ate a little food. Now and then, however, something amazing and miraculous happened—like this day with the boy and his lunch.

I believe this is like my life today. Sometimes a miracle happens, but sometimes not. I wish God would do the miracles on my schedule instead of His. Really, I do. Perhaps we all have this wish somewhere, sometimes. Then again, my wishes would probably make a big mess. Some care and oversight should be involved in miracles, and I don’t have those qualities often.

God, help me to accept that You are God and I am not. Help me to see and appreciate the miracles you perform everyday. Help me to point to them and show others how You live with us today and every day.