Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Satisfied?

Mark 6:42 (along with four other places in Scripture) says, "They all ate and were satisifed." The timing of this and the other verses is just after Jesus' feeding of the multitudes. Just as Jesus fed them, He feeds us with His word, with His Spirit, and with His presence. Are we satisfied with the daily bread Jesus provides? Should we be? Or should we, by hungering for more all the time, remain ever-seeking additional nourishment from our Lord?

What about our ministry efforts? Should we eat and be satisfied with the "good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10)? If you are blessed with a family, should you be satisfied to raise children for the Lord and manage that family well? Or should you be constantly seeking additional service projects? If you're a pastor, are you satisfied with your church? Is the size of your flock big enough?

Perhaps I'm setting up a false dichotomy here. Maybe it is possible to eat and be satisfied and yet continue to hunger for more. I don't see it now, but perhaps I will later. I think of Oskar Schindler, who sacrificed to save thousands of Jews from the Nazi gas chambers during the Holocaust. He wasn't satisfied. Here's the text from the final scenes of Spielberg's Schindler's List:

Oscar Schindler: I could've got more...I could've got more, if I'd just ... I could've got more ...
Stern: Oscar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them.
Schindler: If I'd made more money ... I threw away so much money, you have no idea. If I'd just ...
Stern: There will be generations because of what you did.
Schindler: I didn't do enough.
Stern: You did so much.
Schindler: This car. Goeth would've bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people, right there. Ten people, ten more people ... (He rips the swastika pin from his lapel) This pin, two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would've given me two for it. At least one. He would've given me one. One more. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. I could've gotten one more person and I didn't. I didn't ..."

"They all ate and were satisfied."
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

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