They were out in the countryside with no restaurants nearby and 5000 hungry men, not to mention women and children. When they reported this obvious fact to Jesus and advised him to send the people away to get dinner, Jesus said something shocking.
“You give them something to eat.”
And they did a quick check of what they had on hand and said to their Master, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish – unless we go buy food for all this crowd.”
“We’ve never done that before.”
“We could never do that.”
These two phrases are cold-blooded killers. They do their work quickly and efficiently, destroying ventures of faith before they ever get off the ground. They are two of Satan’s best weapons. And they are so benign, they are hardly ever recognized. In fact, they do their work often without even being verbalized aloud.
When Jesus went on to feed the 5000, it was a lesson not only in compassion, but in possibility. As the song goes, “Little is much, when God’s in it.”
As disciples of Jesus, let’s not be deterred with small beginnings. When you see a need, when an opportunity presents itself, follow the Spirit’s nudge to act. Offer what you have, do what you can, and trust God with the results.
Your Partner in the Gospel,
Pastor Ryan
Seeking Jesus, Serving Others
PILGRIM COVENANT CHURCH 