You can give out of your need.

Was there a time in your life when you gave everything you had, laid it all out, because the need was so great, all the while knowing that the gift you offered was a sacrifice? It can be challenging to give when the need in our own lives is great, knowing that faith is all we have left after that last dollar is donated or that last bit of energy spent.

John shares about a particular time when Jesus was teaching a crowd…He must have been on a roll, too, because it was getting late! (see John 6:1-15). As a pastor, I get it—sometimes the Spirit just moves, the message flows out, and I could go on for hours! It was getting dark, and the crowd was getting hungry. Unlike today, there were no drive-throughs or doordash delivery—these people would’ve walked miles to hear Jesus speak.

So Jesus asks, “What do we do about this? How should we feed these people?” Philip (probably after a blank stare and some silence!) answers Jesus that there wasn’t enough money to buy food for all these people.

But hold on! Andrew saves the day: “‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’” (John 6:9, ESV)

Did you notice that Andrew did not offer up his own food but the food of a boy? There is nothing recorded about what the boy says. Without hesitation, he simply gives his fish and bread. We don’t hear:

“You can have this food, but what’s in it for me?”, or

“You know this is the last of the food we brought—what am I going to eat?”

He simply gives the food over to Jesus, trusting that the little he offers will bring blessing to many. And his sacrifice, along with his unwavering faith in Jesus, blesses many with abundance.

“And when they had eaten their fill, He told His disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’” (John 6:12, ESV)

​​ It’s hard to be cheerful and faithful givers when we give out of need rather than out of abundance, but it’s not impossible! Today, can we live in the truth of 2 Samuel 24:24b?

“‘I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.’…” (NRSV)  

Will you trust today and give out of your need, rather than out of your abundance?

You’re a miracle!