Thanksgiving means huge meals with all the family favorites, which unfortunately don’t come with labels. Potluck, for me this year, is like playing Russian Roulette with my insides! Since my cancer surgeries this past summer, my digestive system has been a little quirky. Suffice it to say, I’ve become aware of things that are necessary to avoid at all costs!
Thankfully, I’ve always been a label reader. My daughter teases me about how I dealt with impulse purchases in the cereal aisle when she and her brothers accompanied me to the grocery store, which was always. “Look at the label. Is the first ingredient corn? Are there more than 10 grams of sugar? Then nope! It goes back.” I promise I didn’t deprive them of candy and cake. Once we even ate ice cream for breakfast on Easter Sunday, but adapting my diet to my new GI tract has taken my label reading to a whole new level.
Going out to eat is an even bigger challenge. Just ordering coffee had me despairing for awhile, but I’m getting better at finding something safe no matter where I go. I’m learning to ask the right questions.
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”
John 6:5-6 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.6.5-6.NIV
“Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Philip was a realist. If Matthew was a tax collector before he followed Jesus, Philip was probably an accountant. He was already counting heads and estimating a per capita price to feed the crowd. His mind went straight to the logistics of the situation. I can imagine Jesus giving John, the beloved disciple, a knowing look when He asked Philip the question. No doubt he’ll start analyzing.
Maybe Andrew caught the look and felt like I did in middle school whenever my football coach science teacher gave us the pop quiz saying, “Put your name on your paper and read all the instructions before you begin.” While most of the class scribbled furiously, I glanced down the page, turned my paper over and laid my pencil down. The final step was to only put your name on the top of your paper. I knew there had to be a catch.
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”
John 6:7-13 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.6.7-13.NIV
Way more than enough. Even more than they’d collected from the boy was left over. Recently I heard a radio announcer use the phrase “scarcity mindset.” He went on to say that too often we live our lives as if there’s never enough. There’s not enough time in the day, not enough money in the bank, gas in the tank, energy to do what we have to do. Yet when we stop to count our blessings, simply being grateful for what we have, no matter how little, it will always be more than enough.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.3.20-21.NIV
What we have when we have Jesus is always more than enough. Immeasurably more!
After Jesus fed the crowds, He sent His disciples across the lake and he went alone into the mountains. In the middle of the night, He went out onto the lake, walking on the water, and delivered them safely to the other shore. Next morning, the people began searching for Jesus.
“Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
John 6:24-25 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.6.24-25.NIV
“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food.
Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:26-29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.6.26-29.NLT
Believe in Jesus. Believe that God loved you so much that He sent His one and only Son to die in your place so that you may have eternal life in His presence. (John 3:16) Believe that He rose again on the third day, ascended to heaven, and is coming again. (Acts 1:11) Believe the fulfillment of the prophets’ words and believe the living Word of God, Jesus. (John 1:1,14)
Just after Thanksgiving, we will celebrate the season of Advent, anticipating the birth of the Christ child at Christmas. One of my favorite names for Jesus comes from the prophet Isaiah. (7:14) All names in ancient Hebrew had meaning. Matthew gives the interpretation of the prophesied name for the Christ child, Immanuel.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
Matthew 1:23 NIV
https://matthew.bible/matthew-1-23
Immanuel.
God.
God with us.
God for us.
God in us.
When I’m shopping for groceries, I’m searching labels for allergens and ingredients that must be avoided. If I were to accidentally ingest something on my list, it wouldn’t be life threatening- just very unpleasant.
When I’m reading God’s word, I’m also searching. I’m looking for Jesus. If I miss Him, I’ve missed the whole point. I’ve missed abundant life. I’ve missed eternity in His presence. Jesus said, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One he has sent.” Abundant life is Christ-filled, Christ-centered, and Christ-powered. Until I am in His presence, He is with me, living in me and through me.
Immanuel. God with us.
“The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”
Colossians 1:26-29 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/col.1.26-29.NIV
I pray the prayer that Jesus prayed for His followers, including me, just before His death.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.””
John 17:25-26 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.17.25-26.NIV
Righteous Father,
I know You.
I will continue to make You known.
In Jesus name.
Amen.
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