The Plumbline

Do you think God sometimes asks us stuff to see how we will answer? He already knows our response, but I believe he puts it out there because there is something to be learned by us hearing our response. Five loaves and a few fish - will that feed a crowd of over 5,000 men? Not if we only see the loaves and fish for what they are - we need to see them through God's eyes. We see the limits in our answers, but God sees the immense possibilities when we place the 'answers' into his hands.  Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said...

Throughout my various careers, I have often run into individuals who think taking credit for what they have done is so very important. They want to see their names included in the research articles, or their names brought forward as the creator of the idea. To be transparent here, I know I have given away more ideas than I ever knew I had in my time on this earth - all with little or no 'credit' to speak of and so have you. I wonder what would have happened if Jesus had come out of that tomb so many years ago and looked for the walkway conversations, mealtime gatherings, and town hall discussions to all proclaim what a wonderful thing he had just accomplished on our behalf? He might have been sorely disappointed to find there were still all those who just didn't think he served any purpose in their lives! But beware of doing your good actions in the sight of men, in order to attract their gaze; if you do, there is no reward for you with your Father who is in Heaven. (Matt...