Sat Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

“And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.” (John 6:12-13)

This is just amazing! Nobody could eat another bite! Although no one had moved away from the table, somehow the table had gotten three inches closer to their stomach. Yet, there were still twelve baskets left over. These were not small baskets. The word for “basket” gives us the English word “coffin.” It means a “large, heavy basket.” This boy had enough left over to start a Super Wal-Mart.

Do you know why this miracle is so important to you and me? That little boy is you and me. We all have lunches in our possession. We all have talents, abilities, time, and resources that God asks for. That little boy could have kept that lunch to himself and fed himself, but everybody else would have gone hungry. Because that little boy trusted Jesus and gave Him what He asked for, Jesus used what He gave and Jesus blessed what He used.
There is one detail you cannot miss. That little boy gave all of his lunch to the Lord, because Jesus obviously asked for all of his lunch. He didn’t say, “Lord you can have one of the fish, but I’ll keep the other one. You take three of the loaves and I’ll keep the other two.” No, he gave Jesus everything Jesus asked for.

What is the lesson? If you want to experience the law of the leftovers, if you want God to add to what He subtracts from you and multiple it and divide it so it can be a blessing to so many others you’ve got to give Him everything.

Do you want to experience life to the fullest? You want to know what it is like to benefit from the law of the leftovers? Then quit hiding your lunch or quit acting like your lunch is too small. The only thing that gives life meaning and purpose is what we give to Jesus. Think about how many men were on that hillside – 5000. Can you name even one of those men? No. Here we are 2000 years later and we are still talking about that one little boy.