I hope that you all are enjoying your summer vacation and you are not missing school too much. One of the nice things that we can do this time of year is to spend a lot more time in the outdoors. There is nothing better than having a picnic lunch with our family and friends.
We recently hosted our annual church picnic on our farm and had a delightful time of food, fun, and fellowship! We have had many picnics here, both large and small, and yet they all have fallen short when compared to the one we read about in the Bible in John 6:1-14. Actually, this “picnic” of 5000 people was so great it was written about in the other three gospels as well! All of these people had gathered to see Jesus. They were there so long that they began to get hungry for something to eat. No one had planned for this meal.
One of Jesus’ disciples found a young boy with a small lunch of two fishes and five barley cakes; not nearly enough though to feed everyone there. However, this boy was willing to give his whole lunch away to Jesus to help to feed as many as it could. Then the most amazing thing happened! Jesus gave thanks to God for the provision of the food and began to reach in the basket to give to the hungry people. The fish and bread just kept coming and coming! In the end, there was enough to feed all the 5000 people with twelve baskets left over. It was indeed a miracle! Because this young boy was willing to share his own lunch, he became a blessing to everyone else there. It also presented the chance for Jesus to show them just how powerful and kind that He was.
God can still do great things today, when we show others His love by being kind and sharing what He has given us. God is not so much interested in the size of our gift, but the willingness of our hearts. I can just imagine the excitement in that boy’s voice as he ran all the way home to tell his mom about the day he spent with Jesus at “the Best Picnic Ever”!
