Three decades ago cyclist Gary Erickson had a problem.
Gary and his friends enjoyed long, challenging California bike rides as part of their active lifestyle. However, when they finished a 100+ mile ride and needed immediate nutrition there were only a handful of energy bars to choose from and they all "tasted like dirt." Gary decided to find a solution. He studied nutrition and experimented in his Berkeley, CA bakery.
The result?
The CLIF Bar - named after his dad, Clif Erickson. Gary's response to the need for good tasting, healthy food for active people was to develop his own energy bar.
In Mark 6, Jesus Christ is confronted with his own food problem. One evening as he finishes teaching near the Sea of Galilee, thousands of men and women are still there wanting to be near Jesus Christ and they need food. Being practical, the disciples encourage Jesus Christ to send the crowd away so they can take care of themselves. Peter, James, and the other disciples tell Jesus to send the folks home so they can feed themselves.
But Jesus Christ has another solution to the problem. Instead of sending the people away, he will provide for them. He will meet their needs.
With only 2 fish and 5 small loaves of bread, Jesus Christ blesses the food and then miraculously transforms a small lunch into a seemingly endless buffet of local fish and Galilean bread. This is a well-known miracle of Christ's ministry; in fact, it's the only miracle recorded in all 4 Gospels.
Yet, familiarity with this well-known miracle can obscure the primary truth. The essential truth Jesus Christ was teaching was that the people of Galilee, and you today, should come to Jesus Christ not just for your physical needs, but also for your spiritual needs.
He provides for the needs of your body, but he is the only one who can provide for your spiritual needs. He does not send you away to figure out how to earn God's favor or be good enough to merit eternal life. He does not send you away to figure out how to be good enough to earn eternal life.
Instead, Jesus Christ tells you to come to him because he is the only one who can give you eternal life. As Christ says in John 14.6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." A relationship with God the Father is only available to you because of the work of Christ - his perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his resurrection from the dead. It is his work, applied to you by the Holy Spirit, which is the spiritual provision he gives you when you repent and believe in him.
The lesson of the feeding of the 5,000 is that Christ provides for his people. He does not send you away to try your best to provide for yourself, but encourages you to come to him for all your needs.