"As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, 'this is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.'
"Jesus replied, 'They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.'
"'We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,' they answered.
"'Bring them here to me,' he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children."(Matthew 14:13-21).We've all heard the story. Plenty of times, most likely. But something stood out to me about the story, last time I heard it used in a message, like it never has before.
I always looked at the this passage as just on of the many miracles Jesus did, but there was something, one little phrase that completely changed how I looked at it, as well as my heart.
Have you ever been told that Jesus wants all of you? Because it's true. He wants everything. If you're like me and the disciples you might have thought you don't have much to offer to the table. Maybe you've thought:
I've sinned too many times, I can't sing, I don't have money, I don't have passion, everything I've felt I loved has been stripped away, I'm broken, I'm dirty, or I have too much baggage, why would Jesus want this mess?
But Jesus isn't asking for some kind of extravagant banquet. He is looking into your questioning eyes saying,
"Just give me what you do have."
We do that and there's no telling how much he can do. He says, "give me what you do have and I will do something great." He takes our messed up little hearts and doesn't see the distortion from the world. He sees potential. He sees the value of it, as it is, and how much greater it can become.
He sees you and that's all he ever wanted.
He can make beautiful things out of the dust, turn water into wine, and take five loaves of bread and two fish and feed over five thousand people and still have some left over. This guy is God and if he can do all that, and so much more, I trust that when you and I give him all that we have, He will do something great with it.
