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"Give Ye Them to Eat"


The account of the five loaves and two fishes is an amazing story! Imagine being in a secluded area with five thousand men to feed (not including however many women and children must have been there!), and you only have five loaves and two fishes! What would you do?

When this happened to the disciples, they just wanted to send all of the people away. But Jesus told them, "Give ye them to eat" (Luke 9:13). The disciples responded by saying, "We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people" (verse 13). Jesus then told the disciples to have all of the people sit down in companies of fifty. Then taking the loaves and fishes, He blessed them, and gave them back to the disciples. Then the disciples gave it to the people. Afterwards, from the multiplied five loaves and two fishes, they took up twelve baskets of fragments!

It's the same with us really. We may feel that we nothing to share with people. Or we might make excuses (these of which I myself am guilty): "I'm too shy. . ." "I don't know what to say!" "What if they think I'm strange?" But, if we bring what we do have to Jesus- no matter how small or little it may be- He can do a lot with it. When give what we have to Him, He will multiply and give it back to us. Then we are to share it others. Someone once said, "God can do more with a little, than you can do with a lot." And it's true. It's not about what we can do, but what God can do through us. It says in Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

With the twelve baskets full of fragments, it reminds me that we should gather up the "fragments" of our experiences. We should store our minds with the memories of how God has helped us and shown us His mercy, forgiveness, and kindness in the past. It won't only benefit us, but we can share it with others, as well, and they, too, can be blessed!

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Luke 6:38

 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

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