Give Your Lunch…
I love the story in John chapter 6 when Jesus feeds the 5,000. (Which there were actually somewhere between 10,000-12,000 people. There were only 5,000 MEN). Here’s the story so you can read it…
1After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples.
4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.
5Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
7Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
8One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”
10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
12When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
-John 6: 1-13
I like to think about the mini stories within the bigger stories.
Like, for instance, this little boy who had the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Think about what was going through his head…He was more than likely aware that he would eventually be hungry. He was probably thinking, “I don’t really want to give up my lunch!” He was probably wondering who these people thought they were that they would even ASK for his lunch, much less feed the other THOUSANDS of people that were there.
But I also think he probably had heard of Jesus prior to this miracle. He probably heard some crazy stories and probably wanted to see if this guy (Jesus) was who he said he was.
So, this little boy, hesitantly, I’m sure, gives his lunch to Jesus…hoping there will still be some for him to eat when he gets hungry.
Aren’t we a lot like this little boy? Don’t we hesitate before giving something away to Jesus? Don’t we question that He can REALLY do something with whatever it is He asks from us.
We KNOW who Jesus is and we KNOW that He died for us, but we still HESITATE when He wants to use “our” stuff to change the world.
But what happens in this story? 12,000 PEOPLE WERE FED WITH ONE LITTLE BOY’S LUNCH. And there were leftovers!
What’s beautiful about this thought is that all Jesus is asking for from us is our lunch. He just wants what little we have to offer anyway. He wants to take our little idea, our simple mistake, our worry and every little thing we hold on to and make miracles happen.
Once we are willing to give it up, He will bless us more than what we ever thought possible.
Give your lunch to Jesus today and watch what comes next!
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