Sweet Faith in God

Jesus taught over 5,000 people until it was late in the day. His disciples wanted to send the crowd of people home to eat, but Jesus felt compassion and wanted to feed them. The disciples struggled with the idea of purchasing food for so many people, but Jesus tested their faith. They searched and found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish.

It’s hard to believe that no one else had anything to give for the crowd. Perhaps some people hid their food so they wouldn’t have to share. However, the faith of this sweet boy to turn over such a small portion for such a large crowd is amazing! This child demonstrates the faith of many children who would give up their toys or food (treasures that bring them joy) and turn them over to Jesus.

The childlike faith is something mature we Christians need to keep our entire lives. We take everything we have that is a treasure to us—our families, time, energy, etc.–and turn it completely over to Jesus. There is much to be gained when we release everything to God. Jim Elliot penned it best with “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

We can’t out-give God in anything we turn over to Him. Imagine the look on the boy’s parents’ faces when he returned home with 12 baskets of food! He left with five loaves and two fish. When he gave all that he had, this boy had no idea of the return on his faith. He simply heard the words of Jesus and stepped up to help in his small way. We also can learn from this boy to hear God’s word and respond in simple, sweet faith.