And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. — Matthew 14:17 & 18
As a friend and I strolled through a collectible show once, I remember he came across an item that he wanted to have. The person who was selling the item gave him the price. It was more than my friend wanted to pay. The person selling then said, “I will consider a trade.” My friend responded that he didn’t have much to offer. I remember the words that were said back to him, “what do you have?”
The interesting thing about the things that we have is that they cannot be used until we identify what we have to offer. My friend was unable to consider a trade for the item until he shared what he had to offer. It took a clear admission of exactly what he had and to see if the other person involved was interested.
For the Christian, we can see a similar scenario play out here in Matthew 14. A multitude of people was there that day and they needed to eat. Jesus and the disciples knew that they were hungry. The disciples responded that there were only 5 loaves and two fish available to feed the great multitude. That was all that Jesus needed to hear. He wanted them to identify what they had to offer so that He could perform a miracle.
God is not expecting that we all have significant amounts of things to offer. After all, Scripture teaches us that to those who much is given, much is expected. He may have not given you all the talents that you can dream of. You may not have an endless supply of money or other resources. No matter what, God has clearly given every one of us gifts, talents, and resources to use for Him.
His desire is that we are honest about these things and give whatever we have to Him. It may seem small and insufficient. It may seem insignificant in the eyes of those around us in this world. God is able to take what seems insignificant and insufficient and make it into something extraordinary. All we have to do is give it to Him!
