A lunch box

How many of you have a lunch box? Do most of you carry your lunch to school, or do you buy lunch in the dinner hall? Do you ever trade snacks and goodies with your friends? What’s the best lunch trade you were ever able to make? 

Today I want to tell you about a boy with a lunch box. In his case, it was probably a basket, and the lunch he took might not be worth much in trade. He had five small loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. How many of you would be willing to give up your Jaffa cakes for a piece of fish? 

The boy wasn’t going to school that day, but he was going to hear a great teacher, Jesus. He was one in a large number of people who went to hear Jesus that day. The Bible says there were 5,000 men. If we guess there was one woman and two children for every man there, that means this little boy was one of at least 20,000 people gathered to hear Jesus speak! 

It was getting late in the day, and Jesus was still speaking to the crowd. It was close to suppertime, and many of the people were probably getting hungry. Very few, if any, of them brought food like the little boy did. 

At the front of the crowd, Jesus’ disciples were telling him to send the people away so they could get dinner. But then Jesus, as he often did, put a challenge to the disciples. You give them something to eat! The disciples were beside themselves. It would cost a fortune to feed so many people! 
Now we don’t know how it happened, but somehow, this little boy found out that Jesus was looking to feed the crowd. One of the disciples brought him to Jesus, and the little boy offered the little food that he had, five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took the food and blessed it. Then he began to break up the food and distribute it among the people with his disciples. Suddenly, one little boy’s lunch fed more than 20,000 people, with 12 baskets of food left over besides! 
It would have been very easy for the little boy to keep his lunch for himself. He was one person in a crowd of 20,000, and what difference would five loaves of bread and two fish make in a crowd that large? But the little boy didn’t keep it to himself. He gave all he had. He placed it in Jesus’ hands, and look what Jesus did with it! 

No gift is too small when given to the Lord, and no offering is too small to make a difference. Remember that, and look for opportunities to give to God and to others. You’ll be amazed at what he can do with a giving heart!