What’s in Your Basket?
Mark 8:19-21
“When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?
They said to him, “twelve†. . . So, He said to them,
“How is it you do not understand?â€â€
They were there.
When the leper was completely restored.
When a lame man began to dance.
When a withered hand was straightened.
When a demoniac was set free from his chains.
When the storm was stilled.
They were there.
They had gone out and preached the Kingdom.
They experienced the power of the Kingdom.
They touched the sick and they were made well.
They saw broken minds were restored.
They were there when five thousand people were fed with five loaves and two small fish. And, despite all the proof – they just didn’t seem to get it. With every new challenge, doubt seemed to arise.
Somehow, they just didn’t remember all He had done.
Are you facing new challenges this year?
If you said, “yes,†you’re in good company. Everyone will face something as the years go on. But the good news is, we don’t have to let those things defeat us. Let’s take a brief look at another example from the Gospel of Mark:
“And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided He among them all. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments, and of the fishes.†– Mark 6:41-43
The disciples had a physical basket that reminded them that God was able to do what needed to be done. But more than that, when the physical basket was gone they would always have a figurative basket of remembrance to carry them through the rest of their days. Whenever they began to face something that seemed impossible, they could look back on that day and remember how their Master was able to make the impossible, possible.
In the Word of God, we are told to remember His works. Not so we long for that former place, but to remind us that the character of God is unchanging. If today, you’re facing the storm, an uncertain future or a bad health report, here is the question I want to ask you – What’s in your basket?
Don’t rush to answer that question.
Carefully ponder it and write down the blessings of God on a sheet of paper because the answer to that question will give you confidence to believe that what He has done in the past, He will do again. The Word says that Jesus is “the same yesterday, today and forever.†That means that what He has done, He is continuing to do right now and because He is moving in this moment, we can mark it down that bigger and better things are in store for the future!
I want to live my life remembering my basket!
Do you remember? How has God been good to you?
What’s in your basket?