John 6:1-9

John 6:1-9
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 One of the things that I think is really cool is the divine economy.  It works completely differently than our own economy.  Here, you eat what you kill -- you work hard, you earn money, you eat.  If you don't earn it, you often don't get it.  (Now, I could write 1,000 pages on how this isn't always the case, about how there are massive sections of our population trapped in systemic poverty, about how many people are born into wealth and don't earn it, about how if often doesn't matter how hard you work if you can't escape... but I'm generalizing here.  Work with me.)  In the human economy, a year's wages might buy a meager amount of food for the crowds gathered to see Jesus.  They would experience scarcity.
  In the divine economy, it's not merit based.  It's grace based, and there is wealth enough to lavish gifts upon all.  In the divine economy, it doesn't matter how much money you have or whether or not you have earned your reward -- Jesus gives it out of the depths of his heart.  In the divine economy, we receive what we cannot buy, we treasure what we did not earn.  In the divine economy, we are blessed because God loves to lavish gifts upon his children.  I'm not talking about God giving money to some that he loves -- I'm talking about God welcoming in those who believe and offering them grace and peace and eternal life and love beyond measure.  God gives these great gifts because he is the great giver, and our money will do no good in this economy.