Do you ever feel as if your contributions to the cause of Christ are small and insignificant? Do you ever wonder if your efforts for Christ are blessing anyone? One person who is yielded to Christ can have a huge impact. The answer is not in the person but in the person’s being yielded to Christ.
In John 6:1-13 we find a very familiar story, the feeding of the 5,000. In this story Jesus takes the five loaves of bread and two small fish that belong to a young lad and performs a miracle with them. This lad is a beautiful example of the significant contributions one person can make who is yielded to Jesus. What were the secrets? Notice three important lessons.
1. Lesson one is be faithful where you are. The lad was faithful to share what he had with Jesus and Jesus performed a miracle with it.
A part of being faithful is recognizing that God has placed you where you are for a reason. Obviously, this boy did not immediately recognize the Lord’s sovereignty in his presence. He would have recognized it after the fact. He was clueless as the events surrounding the miraculous feeding took place. Sometimes it is hard to see the hand of God in our lives. However, his hand is always there. Esther learned this lesson as Mordecai reminded her that God had placed her "for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14)
In addition to recognizing God’s involvement in our position is the need to not underestimate our value. One person, at Jesus disposal, can be used to perform miracles.
2. A second lesson is to share what you have. Sometimes we may feel as if our talents, our abilities and our contributions are insignificant. However, those gifts we share with Christ will bear significant fruit when placed at His disposal.
Though our contributions may seem insignificant they may be the very thing other people need. The multitude Jesus fed needed food. The boy had food. He shared his food and Jesus used it to encourage the multitude.
3. A third lesson is to let Jesus be Lord. This boy, in his humble way, teaches us some valuable insights about letting Jesus be Lord.
He humbled himself before Jesus and obeyed His requests. He did not seem to argue, question or debate. He obeyed when Jesus requested his food. Adults sometimes complicate faith. Jesus said we are to come as little children in child like faith.
This lad let Jesus be Jesus by humbling himself but also by letting Him do His work. Jesus wants to perform miracles and touch people’s lives. He does not require coercing or pushing. He wants to be Lord. Sometimes Jesus cannot be Lord because people stand in His way. This happened in His own home-town. The familiarity of friends and neighbors kept them from believing in Him (Mk. 6:1-6). Faith is a matter of trusting, believing and accepting.
May you be faithful where you are, may you share what you have and may you let Jesus be Lord! You are a significant person but that significance grows eternally significant when you yield to Jesus in this way.
