LIVING TO GIVE
Day 4
“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” - John 6:9
How many times have we talked ourselves out of helping because what we could do seemed too small to matter?
That is exactly the tension in John 6.
Thousands of hungry people surrounded Jesus. Philip immediately calculated the impossibility. There wasn't enough money. There wasn't enough food. The need was simply too large.
Andrew found a boy with five small loaves and two fish.
It wasn't enough either.
But there was one enormous difference.
Somebody was willing to put what he had into Jesus' hands.
That changes everything.
Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, distributed it, and everyone ate. When the meal was finished, there were leftovers.
The boy couldn't feed thousands.
But Jesus could.
The boy's responsibility wasn't multiplication. His responsibility was surrender.
That is still our responsibility.
Sometimes we see enormous needs and become paralyzed.
Families are hungry.
Children need help.
Neighbors are struggling.
Communities need hope.
The gospel needs to reach people.
And we think, “What difference could our little contribution possibly make?”
That is the wrong question.
The better question is: “What can we put into Jesus' hands today?”
One of the strongest principles from this message is this: we don't let what we can't do stop us from doing what we can do.
We may not be able to solve someone’s entire financial problem.
But we can buy groceries.
We may not be able to feed thousands.
But we can help feed someone.
We may not have a huge amount to give.
But we can give something.
We may not have much money at all, but generosity isn't limited to money. We have time, encouragement, possessions, skills, attention, hospitality, and compassion.
The miracle in John 6 began with availability.
So today, we can take a step.
As a family, we can decide on one concrete act of generosity we can complete before the day ends.
We can pay for someone's meal.
We can give toward feeding a family.
We can take groceries to someone going through a difficult season.
We can give away something useful instead of selling it.
We can encourage someone who feels forgotten.
We can invite someone to our table.
We can allow our children to choose something of theirs to give.
We don't have to overcomplicate it.
The goal isn't to impress anyone. The goal is to practice becoming the kind of people who naturally look for opportunities to give.
And whenever possible, we should involve our children.
Let them see us give.
Better yet, let them participate.
We can explain why we're doing it: “God has been generous to us, so our family wants to be generous to others.”
Those moments disciple our children in ways a lecture never can.
There is another beautiful detail in John 6. After everyone had eaten, Jesus instructed the disciples to gather what remained so nothing would be wasted.
Jesus was extraordinarily generous, but He wasn't wasteful.
That gives us another side of generosity.
Maybe one way we can give more is by wasting less.
Waste less food.
Waste less money.
Waste fewer resources on things that don't really matter.
Create margin so that when God puts an opportunity in front of us, we can say yes.
Today isn't about changing our entire financial lives.
It is about putting something in His hands.
Five loaves.
Two fish.
One hour.
One meal.
One gift.
One act of kindness.
We can give Jesus something to work with.
We may think it is small.
But small things surrendered to a great God are never insignificant.
WATCH THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE HERE: https://youtu.be/vFZTJufL7FE?si=Z4stL_SDouLkJfHm
