“Bring them to me” by Pastor Daniel
 
Introduction
A few days ago, I was having my devotion and reading from the gospel of Matthew concerning the story of the feeding of the five thousand.  This is a story that is familiar to all of us.  The statement that Jesus made was significant when the disciples came back to Jesus saying that there they had only five loaves and two fish which were obviously insufficient to feed the five thousand present.
 
To that Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”  That made all the difference.
 
Share your life, Shine your light
With the current theme for the year, here again is a devotional thought that reinforces this same thought - “Bring them here to me.”
 
The past few weeks, I had been hearing many among you uttering the new word, “spendomai” and here was the case of the little boy who “spendomai” his lunch.  But what was that for the five thousand present?
 
Well, I think the little boy did not even think about it.  He heard that there was a need that was all he could offer and so he did. 
 
The disciples sounded a little more sarcastic, taking only one little boy’s lunch and sarcastically questioned Jesus - that was all that was available.
 
The point was this - it did not matter how each one perceived that five loaves and two fish.  The innocent boy or the sarcastic disciples.  What matters was that, there was the offering of the loaves and fish.
 
This year’s theme is about that aspect of our lives - it does not matter how others perceive our “offering” but it matters that we are willing to share.
 
Sharing our lives is about the willingness to offer whatever we have to the Lord, whether it is our time, our service, our resources or our family.  Sharing our lives is about our first and foremost devotion to the Lord.  I know we have been hearing this quite a lot, but are we willing to bring to God whatever we may have?  The Lord still speaks today, “Bring them here to me.”
 
Five Thousand Blessed
Sharing our lives is also about, letting God decide how wide a blessing it can be.  Only God knows what the need is and how wide the influence is He wants to make with our offering.
 
The little boy certainly was not sure that his lunch meal could satisfy one person, let alone feed more than five thousand people.  But it did.
 
The difference is this - in our hands, yes it may only feed one person, but in God’s hand, it can multiply and satisfy five thousand people.
 
In verse 20, it was stated that, “they all ate and were satisfied.  And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.”
 
That is all we need to know - while many tried different ways of explaining how this could happen, we all know that God did a miracle with the offering of one little boy’s lunch pack.
 
Our lives, looking at it may seem so insignificant.  And in all reality, it is - just a simple lunch pack but there is another reality taking place - God’s reality.
 
Sharing our lives is about living in the reality of God.  This is so because as we look at it, why would one want to share that lunch - it is not a great lunch and it is not a great amount.  When we speak of Paul’s attitude of “spendomai”, we ask, “why would he do that and why would he be so glad to do that?”  In a simple statement, it is this - “Because he lived in another reality - God’s reality.”
 
Blessed to be a blessing
As we approach this new year and as we have accomplished the crossing over from 2019 to 2020, this is about, being a blessing to someone.  Only God can make that happen, but we come responding to the words of Jesus, ‘Bring them here to me.”  Will we bring them to Jesus?  I asked myself this question, “What would be my five loaves and two fish?”  I ask you the same question, “What is your five loaves and two fish?” 
                                                                                                                                   
Let us be a blessing because God has blessed us and He will continue to bless our “spendomai”.