Eat (Feed) and Be Satisfied

And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. -Matthew 14:19 (NIV)

As I write this morning devotional, a group of people are in the kitchen of Fayetteville First United Methodist Church cooking. In a few hours, the doors of the church will open and a crowd of hungry people will gather.

It would be easy to just say that Thanksgiving is a day spent alone with our families. Like Jesus in Matthew 14, we could just seek a solitary place and do our own thing: eat some turkey, tap a nap, and then wake up long enough to watch a football game or go to a movie.

But much like Jesus is mindful of the crowd in today's suggested reading, the people of our church are aware that there are lots of people who have nowhere to go on a day like today and/or have nothing to eat. So as tempting as it is to be alone or to do our own thing, we've heard the call of Jesus to gather what food can be gathered, to give God thanks for it, to distribute it among hungry and/or lonely people, and to sit down together with these our sisters and brothers in Christ and cultivate relationships with them. Our goal is to share the same love of Christ that we have experienced with others in our community.

Our prayer is that the crowds of people who come today will eat and be satisfied and that the volunteers will feed and be satisfied. We want our guests to feel like family and to know that we're not just concerned about the hungry and lonely on Thanksgiving, but that our church will be back providing food and fellowship in December, January, February, and every month after that.

Today, as you enjoy food, family, and fellowship, be mindful of the people who have none or little of those things...and may God grant you the grace to want to do your part to make sure that they do.





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If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's suggested readings are Matthew 17-19.