THINK TOGETHER.
What’s the most people you’ve ever had over to your house for supper?
READ TOGETHER.
Matthew 14:14-21. 14When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Everywhere Jesus went a large crowd would follow him. Like we read yesterday, Jesus and his disciples were healing sick people and sending away demons. On top of that, Jesus was a great teacher. Everyone wanted to come hear Jesus preach and talk about God and his kingdom.
Today’s story takes place on one of those days. A large crowd has come to listen to Jesus. They stayed there all day long. Now it was getting late and the people were getting hungry.
The disciples said, “Send the people home, Jesus.”
Jesus, said, “No, you give them something to eat.”
The disciples said, “We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
Now remember, there are thousands and thousands of people there, and clearly there is not enough food. They only had five loaves and two fish. Where did that food come from? In the gospel of John, it tells us. The bread and fish came from a little boy who was willing to share his lunch with everyone else.
John 6:8-9. 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
We don’t know this boy’s name or where he came from, but we do know that he was willing to share what he had. And we know that Jesus took that boy’s lunch and turned it into enough to feed everyone there – And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
What might have happened if that boy had not shared his lunch? Sure, Jesus may have done something different. Or maybe they would have had to send all the people away from Jesus. What would happen if you stop sharing the things you have? Sharing is caring, right? And when we share what we have with others Jesus is able to use us to show that he cares about others too.
Because of Jesus we are able to be used by God to show his love.
With Jesus we can share what we have, even if it is just a little bit.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Practice sharing. What do you have that you can share with others. How does Jesus use our sharing to show that he cares about us?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you always share what you have with us. Help me to share what I have too. Amen.
TLICfamily 