5/2
After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews. When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do. Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.” One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted. When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers, so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves. John 6:1-13
5/2, I've always loved the miracle of the loaves and fishes. 5/2, five loaves and 2 fish. I've always thought that five loaves and two fish was a lot of food for a youngster to have in his basket. Maybe he had enough to last for the journey or maybe he had enough because God's plan was to use him.
I don't know of many young children who would want to give over their lunch, but maybe Jesus looked into his heart and taught him about sacrificial giving.
We are so hung up on what we have, what we can buy, where we can go, and how much more can we get, that we miss the simple truth of putting what we have back into God's hands to realize the blessing.
Can you imagine 5,000, give or take 5,000, tired and hungry people? I'm guessing there might have been some "constructive" criticism going on. At the very least some major chaos was happening in the minds of those in charge of feeding the crowd.
We forget that God brings order to chaos as we look to him for answers.
Five loaves and two fishes do not add up to feeding the 5,000 plus, hungry humans. The will of God rarely adds up. We attempt to do the math ourselves, but we so often overlook the answer.
In life, it seems, we want God to provide more so that we can give him less.
A little boy simply gave five loaves and two fish and found himself smack-dab in the middle of one of the biggest miracles of Jesus!
(And after a weekend with a granddaughter who taught me about dabbing, I can just visualize this young boy and Andrew doing the success dab, exuberant with joy)
God calls us to his table. He multiplies our blessings. Do we multiply our giving? Our meal may turn into someone else's miracle!
Will we miss it?
I love how Matthew 6:11 reads in the Message...
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Fresh Find: What a great award gift. A customized bat bat!
