"What would our lives, our churches, our communities be like if we pursued Jesus like this boy; not looking to receive something, but ready to give everything when Jesus asks for it?"
I recently had the opportunity to hear Pastor Albert Tate at the Global Leadership Summit and he skimmed over something that has been messing with me ever since. It comes from the story in Luke 9 and John 6 in the Bible (John 6 is provided below). Jesus is trying to get some alone time with his senior leaders. They go off to the wilderness for their leadership retreat and the crowds follow them. Jesus does some teaching and some healing. It is getting late and Jesus says "it is time to eat". There are no nearby restaurants and grocery stores. This is not a well planned retreat because the disciples have no food. So they start asking around the crowd if anyone thought to bring any food. There were five thousand men around and no food. There were women and children on top of that. Out of all those people only one person thought to bring food and it was a little boy.
This raises some questions. Why did this boy bring his lunch? Why did none of the adults come prepared? Where was his parents? Obviously we do not know the answers to these questions but let's look at some possibilities. Maybe the boy set out that day on a mission to find Jesus and he did not know how long it would take. Maybe the crowd heard of the miracles of Jesus and assumed that Jesus would provide. I am sure some of them had heard about the wine at the wedding. I loved what Albert Tate said, "Maybe the boy brought all he had hoping Jesus could use it". One thing we do see is that he gave it all. He did not hold back a piece of bread or fish for himself. He did not know that Jesus was going to multiply it. He just gave it all.
Sometimes we are like the crowd. We do not come prepared to be a part of the blessing that Jesus has for us. We show up asking for a hand out. We don't even bring what God has already provided. We just come to see a show. What would our lives, our churches, our communities be like if we pursued Jesus like this boy; not looking to receive something, but ready to give everything when Jesus asks for it?
6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:1-13 NIV)
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