Tuesday, June 1, 2010

They Did Not Understand

Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
Mark 6:51-52



Reading through the Bible has me in the gospel of Mark right now. When I read chapter 6 the other morning, the above scriptures really caught my attention.

Earlier in the day, Jesus had been bombarded by crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd. In His compassion for these shepherdless sheep, Jesus had begun to teach them. As the the hour grew late, the Lord recognized the crowd's need for a meal.

He satisfied their hearts with Truth-teaching, then He filled their bodies, more than 5,000 of them, with food - all from two fish and five loaves of bread. The disciples saw Jesus' miracle of multiplication. They helped distribute the meal!

And yet - when all the preaching and feeding were finished and the disciples left by boat, they encountered a storm. Jesus came to meet them, walking on the choppy, wind-tossed water. They thought it was a ghost. I am sure I would've thought the same!


But what really made me pause and think was the author's description of why the disciples were so amazed when Jesus met them on the lake that night: they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. It's like they didn't really get the miracle he'd done when He fed 5,000 people with the equivalent of a two-person meal. Didn't they see? Didn't they understand?

I don't know, but it really has me praying lately for a soft heart. I'm asking God for a heart and mind that will not be hardened, so that I don't miss what God Almighty is doing all around me, in me, and in the world. I want to understand what He's up to, and to marvel at it with a soft heart.

Lord, help me not to miss a thing. Protect me from having a hardened heart!

1 comment:

  1. You've hit on the reason that we must preach the gospel to ourselves... everyday. Without being in a place of humility and lowliness I think we automatically harden our hearts, with our sinful nature it's our default place. Yes, we do need to pray constantly for a heart of flesh, there is so much to miss without it.

    I want that salad. Beautiful!

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