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A Little Boy's Lunch

by Jerry Ousley
10/11/2024 / Christian Living

A Little Boy’s Lunch

By Jerry D. Ousley

Most of us have heard the story. I’m speaking of the one in which Jesus took a little boy’s lunch and fed a multitude of people. You can read the story in several of the Gospels but I love the version in John 6:1-14. Read it for yourself.

As the story goes, it took place at the sea of Galilee, also called the sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd followed Jesus, Who went up on a mountain with the great multitude of people following Him. He turned to His disciples and asked them, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” The Bible tells us that He asked this question to test Philip but He already knew what He was going to do. Philip’s answer was that 200 denarii worth of bread still wouldn’t be enough. Now, a single denarius was considered to be a day’s wages. So, 200 denarii would have been equal to the wages of 200 men, or 2/3 of a year’s wages for one individual. But as he said, it still wouldn’t be enough.

About that time, Andrew, the brother of Peter, came up and said, “There’s a boy here who has 2 fish and 5 barley cakes,” then added, “but what are they among so many?” Jesus had them sit all the people down. There were 5000 men. Figuring conservatively, if only half of them were married (and I’d say it was a lot more than half), that would probably account for an additional 2500 women. If one boy was there, I’d feel safe in saying that there were many other children there. If those married had only 2 children each (and they believed in large families in those days so I’d say there were many more) that would be 5000 children. This being the case we are looking at 5000 men but probably 12,500 or more people.

The little boy had surrendered his lunch to Jesus. He began breaking the bread and fish and gave to His disciples to distribute. Not only did all those people eat, but they ate until they were full! He then told His disciples to gather up the leftovers. Those 2 fish and 5 barley cakes fed at least 12,500 people until they were full, but they also took up 12 baskets full of leftovers! Those who knew what Jesus had done said, “This is truly the Prophet (or the expected Messiah) who is to come into the world.” Of course He was!

I remember as a child having this story read to me as a bedtime Bible story. In the version read to me, the mother of the boy had carefully packed him a lunch for the day. Why she and his father had not gone with him, I have no idea. Maybe they were there in that crowd. The Bible doesn’t say. But what thrills me is the generous heart of this little fellow.

I’m a bit stingy sometimes. I’ve made statements that prove it and I have had to repent of those things I said after the fact. But this little fellow, even though his mother had been thoughtful, and only he had food to eat while all the rest had neglected to be prepared, according to the scripture, willingly and without hesitation he gave what he had to Jesus. Our Lord took the little that he had and turned it into a feast for a multitude.

There was a time when I was the assistant pastor of a small congregation. I was young, unmarried, and in-experienced. But despite my inabilities, a young couple came to me asking about tithing. They were both laid off from their jobs at the time and only receiving unemployment and they could barely make ends meet on that. They told me, “We want to tithe but we simply can’t afford to tithe.” The tithe, for anyone who doesn’t know, is a tenth of our income right off the top. It was taught in the Old Testament. Regardless what you may believe about tithing, this couple believed in it and they wanted to do it, but they couldn’t afford it. I didn’t really know what to tell them, but I prayed under my breath for an answer from God for them, and here is what I felt He wanted me to say to them: “God completely understands your situation. He doesn’t require you to give what you don’t have. But I’ll say, this, if you decide to tithe anyway, He will bless you for it.” They very next week the husband came running up to me, as excited as I’d ever seen a man. He said, “brother Jerry, we decided to give our tithe even though we couldn’t afford it, and guess what!” “What?” I dutifully asked. “They called me back to work starting Monday!”

Now, each of our situations are different. I’ll not stand in judgment of anyone’s decision. But I’ll tell you this, when you give to God it is like you are dipping it out with a spoon while God is adding to your pile with a scoop shovel. And contrary to popular opinion we don’t have to always give it to a preacher or a church. We can give it to help a brother or sister in need. We can give it in the form of helping others out. I know I’ll be criticized for that but the truth is the truth!

The Bible does not tell us what happed to those 12 baskets full of leftovers. I’ve heard some people say that there were 12 - one for each of the disciples. But I don’t really believe that. We can each speculate all we want; the fact of the matter is that the Bible is silent on the subject.

But here’s what I like to believe: The 2 fish and 5 loaves originally belonged to the boy. He gave them to Jesus. I like to think that he tied those baskets together and went home pulling them with him as he went and when he got home, he said, “Look, Mom!” God blesses us that way. It may not always be with more money, or more food, or more wealth. But I will guarantee you, that even when a selfish guy like me gets past his own feelings, and obeys God, as a consequence to serving our Lord, He will bless us too.

We don’t give to get. But when we give, God will work a miracle and we won’t go hungry, I’ll tell you that for sure!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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