This headline comes from a lesson in the Bible commonly referred to as the feeding of the five thousand. In this story, a small boy from the crowd offers his five loaves and two small fishes to Jesus so that the five thousand plus people who were there could eat.
It sounds pretty impossible. In our own power, it maybe. However this young lad displayed several attributes that made it possible for his small amount of food to be used of God to help thousands of people. Here are five attributes that this boy showed, that we can all learn from.
- Be Prepared There were five thousand men present at this teaching. That did not count the women and children. Out of all of these people present, only this boy had food to eat. It is so important for us to be prepared. One of the best ways to be prepared is to be educated. There are so many ways to learn today it is crazy. Information can be found on websites, through blogs, podcasts, ebooks, audio books, actual paper books (WHO KNEW THEY STILL EXISTED?!), and I could go on and on. There is simply no reason for each one of us to stop learning in this day and age.
- Do Not Take What You Have For Granted If you are like me, the things you do are just the things you do. You do not always find value in those things. The boy ONLY had five loaves and two small fishes. There was NO WAY it would be enough to feed all of those people. That boy saw the value in what he had. He realized what he had was important. I know I need to get better at that. My guess is that you need to as well.
- Speak Up As the disciples went around to see what food was available, it would have been very easy for the boy to stay silent. I mean, he was just a boy. Like I said in point two, he only had a small amount of food. Fortunately for everyone there, those things did not stop him. He was not afraid to speak up. Just like that boy, you need to speak up. It may be that you see something that nobody else sees. You might have knowledge on a subject that nobody else knows.
- Give It Your All This boy could have easily kept a couple of loaves for himself. He could have thought, if I give them all my food, they will give it to others. I will have nothing for myself! He did not do that. He gave everything he had. You and I need to put everything we have on the table, and not hold anything back. By holding your best back, all you do is deprive the world of things that could change the world.
- Accept The Blessing Due to the unselfishness of this boy, many people were able to eat until they were full, himself included. Many people have a difficult accepting blessings. This boy had no problem eating until he was full. There is a good chance that he actually ate more than he brought. It does not have to make sense. When somebody wants to give you something, be thankful and accept it.
What are some other attributes that this boy showed?