A little boy

 (By Sheryl Rajesh)

 The Bible specifically mentions that he was "a little boy", who must have come to hear Jesus. We also read in John 6, the same chapter where Jesus miraculously feeds five thousand, that there were 5,000 full grown men present at the same place where this little boy was.

And there was an emergency - people were famished with hunger and the disciples of Jesus had no solution to this problem. This little boy without any question or clarification gives away his 5 loaves and 2 fish in the hands of Jesus. The adults present there were stronger, had more experience, and might have had more to offer. But I don’t think that these men were looking out for anything other than the needs of their flesh. 

This little boy became the key to the miracle of feeding the 5,000 because he was looking for something bigger. You may think of yourself small or insignificant in others’ eyes, but when you offer yourself to Jesus, you become a key to something big.

I love that the boy teaches me to offer all that I have. This boy could possibly not be alone, he would have been there with some of his family members.  

As a wife, whenever I cook something, I always remove a share of it for my husband and then offer the rest to others. This got me thinking if I had the loaves and fish, I would have probably first thought about my family and kept a large part of my share for them before handing it over to the disciples. 

However, this boy did not keep anything to himself, but offered all of the little that he had. 

When this boy was brought to Jesus by Andrew, no one even asked for his name. Even after the people ate and were satisfied, I don’t think the disciples made any effort to even find the boy, ask for his name or thank him. 

However, this little boy’s radical giving is preached everywhere! 

May we remember that it is not our name or title, but the way we live in surrender to God that will be remembered long after we are gone!

Life Application

1.  Offer all that you have to Jesus, no matter how big or small it may seem.

2. It is not our name or title, but the way we live in surrender to God that will be remembered long after we are gone.