Matthew 14:15-20 (NLT)
15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.” 17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered. 18 “Bring them here,” he said. 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

There were 5,000 men present listening to Christ preach and probably an equal amount of women, plus children. The disciples had bread and fish they might normally carry to feed themselves, but it would hardly feed the crowd in attendance. The disciples wanted to send away the people, but Jesus told them they could feed the people. Jesus blessed the food and broke it up and the disciples gave it to the people. Afterwards there were twelve baskets of food left over.

This is an amazing story of a miracle, but even more so it was a lesson for the disciples. The disciples were probably tired and probably wanted to quit for the day so they could get something to eat; so they were ready to send everyone away. But Jesus thought about the people and their needs. Jesus told the disciples to feed the others. He wanted them to be thinking about the needs of everyone else and not just their own. Of course they immediately wondered where they were going to get the food from. They had already told Jesus they only had a small portion and the people needed to go back to the village to find food. Somehow the disciples forgot who they were with. They forgot how God had provided manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. They forgot the miracles Jesus had performed around them. Twelve baskets and twelve disciples, they were quickly reminded of God’s provisions when there was a leftover basket for each one of them. Each was holding a reminder of how God provides. Have you forgotten how God provides for our needs? Look around and count the blessings in front of you and then praise God for what He has done in your life. Praise His son for caring about us and wanting to meet our needs.