Grace in Every Breath: Devotions for the Weary Soul

MONDAY, 18 AUGUST 2025

TEXT: JOHN 6:1–15

1: Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),

2: and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.

3: Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

4: The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

5: When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

6: He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7: Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8: Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,

9: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

10: Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).

11: Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12: When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”

13: So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14: After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

15: Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?

John reports the fifth miracle of Jesus within the vicinity of Galilee. The miracles attracted large crowds wherever He went.

John described the size of the crowd in superlative terms: "A great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick” (John 6:2).

The crowds were following Jesus for the wrong reasons, but Jesus had a positive attitude toward them.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd of people coming toward Him, He thought of their needs, vulnerability, and helplessness.

Throughout the Gospels, we see how Jesus viewed people. In Mark 1:40-41, when Jesus saw a leper, He was moved with compassion.

Matthew reports that when Jesus “saw a great multitude, He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick." Luke also observed that “when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her" (Mark 6:34, 8:2-3; Matthew 20:34).

In Africa, most leaders see people as tools to be used and discarded. An anonymous writer observed that “the two most successful industries in Nigeria are politics and religion. The sad reality is that people are the commodities.”

QUESTION: How do you see people—as tools or as the image of God that needs your help?

PRAYER: Forgive me, Lord, for many times I see beggars and the

voiceless as nuisances instead of having compassion and treating them with dignity.