We live in an abundant universe. There are more than enough resources for everyone. The cause for scarcity in our world is because of our fear, greed, and misplaced trust. We have bought into the idea of the material versus the spiritual so we hoard more resources than we need or waste them and thus create scarcity for others. If we could learn the Law of Sharing, which states that sharing abundance creates a greater level of abundance for everyone involved, we would get rid of our fear and at the same time open our hearts for more joy.There are two stories recorded in the bible that give us an example of how Christ demonstrated the laws of abundance and sharing—the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 with just a few loaves of bread and a few small fish. I was reading the story the other day and was struck with how Christ first provided his disciples with the opportunity for demonstrating their blossoming faith.
After a long day of teaching and healing the disciples had come to Jesus telling him that the people were tired and hungry and should be dismissed so that they could go find food. Jesus suggested that it was not necessary for them to go elsewhere because the disciples should feed them. They were mortified! “We have only five loaves and two fish!” Jesus patiently responded, asking them to bring him what they had and then proceeded to have them share this with the people. There were 12 baskets of leftovers after everyone had eaten.
A short while later we find a similar story. Jesus has been teaching for three days and he again gives the disciples an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of abundance and sharing. They were immediately perplexed and panicked. It’s as if the feeding of the 5,000 had never taken place. You would think that they would have had a little bell go off in their heads that said, “Oh yea, remember the other day when he fed 5,000 with a sack lunch?” But no, they responded with the same attitude of fear. That’s what happens when we have placed our trust in the idea of scarcity—that there is not enough for everyone. We become fearful
Of course, the miracle is repeated and 4,000 are fed with seven loaves and a few fish. You would think the lesson would be learned, but only a short while later we see the disciples once more arguing over resources and missing an important point that Christ is trying to teach them about trusting in the wrong things, unbelief, and about stubbornly holding onto to the notion of scarcity. He compares these to the yeast of the Pharisees.
They miss the spiritual point once again and start chastising one another for having forgotten to bring along some lunch. Jesus is exasperated! “Don’t you remember the feeding of the 5,000 and of the 4,000? I’m not talking about bread!” Christ was talking about the poisonous effects of unbelief and the disciples were stuck on bread. He was speaking of the spiritual and they were thinking of the material.
Before we shake our heads at these poor, obtuse disciples and think that surely we would have gotten the point, we must realize that this is an important Gnostic principle that we miss all of the time. The same abundance and resources ARE available to us today. We have failed to realize that we have bought into a false idea. We have bought into the lie of materialism and consumerism, and egoism that all suggest that we must hoard our resources—that there is a scarcity, and that others will take what is ours if we don’t get it first.
The same abundance is available to us today. The Christ power that multiplied the loaves 2,000 years ago is still at work. This is the good news! We do not have to accomplish everything on our own. Christ still works along side of us, providing all of the resources we need to accomplish all that needs to be done.
We only have to change where we place our trust and loyalty. When we have a trust in the goodness and abundance of the universe and the One who Created it, we will have confidence that everything we need has already been provided or is shortly on its way. We are free to live in a state of joy and contentment because we know in whom we have placed our trust. There is not only enough to accomplish what you need to do, there are 12 baskets left over to do something more with.
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