LIFELINK DEVOTIONAL
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Certain things annoy me. You too, right? One such thing is when the response to a question doesn’t answer the question. Many times our answers reveal our lack of understanding of the subject. The answer may be an attempt to cover our ignorance by sharing some fact about something else. Sometimes we just prefer not to talk about the subject of the question. And still other times, like in the case of Philip, we don’t want our lack of faith to be uncovered.
When Jesus tested Philip with a question, Philip sought to protect his lack of faith by making a point in his answer. Jesus asked him, “Where can we buy enough bread?” Philip didn’t answer the question. The question required an answer of faith. Philip answered in such a way as to try to prove that his understanding of the situation was justifiable. We read about it in John 6 verse 7.
“Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
Jesus asked Philip intentionally, because Philip was from the region where they were, and would have been familiar with the availability of food. But he doesn’t answer the question. Instead, he points out that they don’t have any money to buy that much bread, even if it was available. He allowed the visible circumstances to limit his capacity to trust Jesus.
However, Andrew came to Jesus with a little boy who had brought his lunch, and was willing to give it all up to help solve the food problem. But Andrew also let the visible circumstances dictate the level of his faith.
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?””
Two lessons for us today:
- Look beyond the visible circumstances and trust that Jesus has a plan to grow our faith through His limitless provisions.
- Give the Lord Jesus whatever you have, no matter how little it may be. God uses seeds to create great harvests.
When Jesus asks you a question that is designed to reveal your faith and then grow your faith, answer honestly. He is prepared to do something magnificent.
Pastor John
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