Mark Sorensen “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five – and two fish.” Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people.
– Mark 6:38,41
I’ve always loved the feeding of the 5,000 story in the Gospels.
Crowds had grown and Jesus had been teaching late into the day. Seeing that people both needed a break and some nourishment, Jesus looked at His disciples and made a pretty simple (but loaded) command: “Give them something to eat.” Simple in theory. Yet, after counting their coins and looking at what they had, they didn’t appear to have what was needed to feed a multitude. In fact, all they had (compliments to a little boy’s Levite lunchable he brought for the day) was just a few loaves of bread and some fish.
Here’s the miracle found in that moment: What seemed to be less than enough turned out to be more than enough when placed in the hands of Jesus.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus would have done if the numbers had been different? What if all they collected was a single loaf of bread and two fish? Here’s what I would guess – the outcome would have been the same.
The beauty and power of this miracle is found here: Whatever we put in the Lord’s hands, great or small, when we truly give it over to Him and receive that blessing, the end result will always be more than we could have ever imagined. That’s the beauty of generosity.
Remember the word I shared last week. Generosity is not just something God wants from us; it’s something He desires for us.
This week, I am excited to take us into week two of our series, That’s Our Church. This week we’ll look at what it means to be a guided church. I will be teaching from two passages this week – Malachi 3:10 and Matthew 6:19-24.
Join us for what I am sure will be another wonderful Sunday. We’ll have an update on Week 1 of January’s Giving Challenge. Remember to bring $10 for Week 2 of the challenge! I can’t wait to see you.
