Bread

Mark 8:17, 18 "Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?"

When Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves, his followers collected twelve baskets of left-overs. When Jesus fed four thousand people with seven loaves, his followers collected seven baskets of left-overs.

There is a marvelous economy in the work of Jesus. He supplies abundantly but doesn't create so much excess that it will be wasted.

Later, we see Jesus healing a blind man. At first it seems the man does not quite get enough from Jesus. He can see people but they are not distinct. They "look like trees"(Mark 8:24). Jesus touches him again and he can see clearly. I suppose, if Jesus had wanted to, he could have given this man super-telescopic vision or x-ray vision. But he does not. Jesus gives the man just what he needs.

I am often like the followers of Jesus. I worry about whether I have enough bread. Yet, the great supplier of bread is right beside me. He supplies abundantly, at the right time, without excess, and sometimes he supplies a little bit at a time. Jesus gives me just what I need.