John 6:11 – Jesus then took the barley loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to the disciples to distribute to the people. Miraculously, the food multiplied, with everyone eating as much as they wanted!
Thanksgiving is faith. Thanksgiving recognizes what the Lord has done for us expressing gratitude for His goodness and faithfulness. Thanksgiving can also be described as as faith or even prophetic. Thanksgiving gives thanks to the Lord for His future blessing upon our lives. Giving thanks recognizes the power of God, the goodness of God, and His sovereign plan that is always helping us causing all things to work together for good in our lives. In today’s verse Jesus is giving thanks for this little boy’s lunch no matter how meager it appeared. By faith He is also giving thanks for the supernatural provision about to happen. I believe He is also teaching us to give thanks for future provision extending to all the days of our lives. Here is how the Reformed Expository Commentary describes this prayer of Jesus.
“This is Jesus’ model for us. Looking on the hungry world with the compassionate eyes of Christ, presenting all the little we have to him, turning our hearts to God to bless and empower the work, we must then act in faith, believing that God will do his work with the same power that fed the five thousand. How often those who do great things for Christ began with no idea of the scale of their success, but acted in faith because they believed in the power of God to bless. They expected great things from God, so they did great things for God. Jesus fed the five thousand with an abundance left over, demonstrating the power of his grace to feed the hungry world.”
Jesus was teaching us here that He is our daily bread, reminding everyone of the daily manna that fell on the Children of God in their wilderness journey. The biggest problem they encountered in that trip was ingratitude which at the end of the day is unbelief. They failed to enter the land of promise because of unthankful hearts that could not see the goodness and greatness of God. The Lord raised up another generation that would follow Joshua into the land of promise. Today, if you hear God speaking to you, open your heart to His love and give thanks to Him, then you will see the glory of God.
