Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 10
Friday


THE LESSON
OF THE HULA
HOOP

READ:
Mark 6:34-44
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Let us not grow weary
while doing good.
__Galatians 6:9
________________________________________________________________________________________________

One of my favorite childhood toys is making a comeback__the hula hoop. My friend suzi and I spent hours on the front lawn perfecting our technique and competing to see which of us could keep a hoop circling our waist longer. This year I relived that part of my childhood. While sitting in a park, I watched as children of all ages and sizes tried their hardest to keep hula hoops from falling to the ground. They twisted and turned with all their strength, but despite their exertion the hoops landed on the ground. Then a young woman picked up a hoop. With hardly any motion, she moved it smoothly and rhythmically up and down from her waist to her shoulders and back to her waist. Her success depended on strategic movement, not vigorous motion.

In our spiritual lives, we can expend all kinds of energy trying to keep up with others in service to God. But working to exhaustion is not a virtue (Gal. 6:9). Before feeding thousands of people with only five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:38-44), Jesus called His disciples away to rest, proving that He doesn't need our frantic exertion to accomplish His work. The truth Jesus taught His disciples, He wants to teach us: Quiet obedience accomplishes more than wild activity. __Julie Ackerman Link

`````````````````Help me, Lord, not to compare myself and```````````````````
```````````````what I do with others. May I serve where You``````````````````
````````````````want me to serve and do it in Your strength.``````````````````
`````````````````````I love You and give myself to you.``````````````````````
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus wants willingness, not weariness.

************************************Today's Bible Reading __ Mark 6:34-44*********************************

34 And Jesus, when He
came out, saw a great
multitude and was moved
with compassion for them,
because they were like sheep
not having a shepherd. So
He began to teach them
many things.

35 When the day was now
far spent, his disciples came
to him and said, "This is a
deserted place, and already
the hour is late. 36 Send them
away, that they may go into
the surrounding country and
villages and buy themselves
bread; for they have nothing
to eat."

37 But He answered and
said to them, "You give them
something to eat." And they
said to Him, "Shall we go
and buy two hundred denarii
worth of bread and give
them something to eat?"

38 But He said to them,
"How many loaves do you
have? Go and see." And
when they found out they
said, "Five, and two fish"

39 Then He commanded
them to make them all sit
down in groups on the green
grass. 40 So they sat down in
ranks, in hundreds and in
fifties. 41 and when He had
taken the five loaves and the
two fish, He looked up to
heaven, blessed and broke
the loaves, and gave them to
His disciples to set before
them; and the two fish He
divided among them all.

42 So they all ate and were
filled. 43 And they took up
twelve baskets full of
fragments and of the fish.

44 Now those who had eaten
the loaves were about five
thousand men.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

It is believed by scholars that each of the four gospel narratives was
written to a specific audience. In that context, Mark's gospel is said
to have targeted a Roman audience__with a strong emphasis on
action, movement, and the works of Jesus, including the miraculous
feeding of the 5,000 in today's text.