Title: Little Things Offered / John 6:5-13
Contents
John 6:5-13, Proverbs 4:8-9
Today's words are the miracles of many people getting physical food along with the words of Jesus. While listening to the Word, at the end of the day, the Lord was going to give these people something fleshly food. But since it is empty and there are no business people, how can it feed more than 5,000 people? However, with the dedication of one child, the miracle of twelve baskets left even after all the people were satisfied.
There are three special people in the process of this famous miracle. One is Philip, another is Andrew, and the third is a child whose name has not been revealed.
Philip counted correctly.
When Jesus asked, ‘Where can you buy bread to feed these people?’, Philip quickly counted the number of people gathered there and calculated the cost of bread needed for each person. Then I multiplied those numbers to get 200 denarii (about 16 million won). Then he concluded and reported, 'We don't have enough money.' How clever and clear are you? There are no gaps in the slightest.
However, this method of calculation is not Jesus' method of calculation. The method of calculation of Jesus is the method of calculation of faith. When we try to calculate our faith with our heads and try to argue it theoretically, we are already out of the seat of faith, the seat of faith. Faith is not a conclusion drawn from calculations. Faith is a spiritual thing that cannot be calculated by neither theory nor reason. Faith is seeing the eternal world even though it is invisible. Faith is what becomes more certain the more you trust it, and faith is what becomes more uncertain the more you question and calculate.
If we had tried to calculate our faith, Abraham's obedience was in vain, Joshua and Caleb's report (Numbers 14:6-10) was reckless, and David's victory over Goliath would not have been possible. But they used God's method of calculation. He believed that when he was weak he was strong, when he grasped the Lord, the impossible turned into possible, and the potter believed that any situation could be changed in the hands of God. So they did not count faith. Only by relying on God's word, believing and moving forward, we experienced God's power and achieved victory.
Above all, if God were to look at us and count us, we could not even have our own salvation. Our salvation is not by looking at our actions or the measure of our faith, but by the grace of God who sees only that faith, like a mustard seed. Faith is not a calculation, but a belief itself.
Andre hesitated.
Andre wasn't sure he was sure, but he was a man who wanted to do something. He receives five barley loaves and two fish from a child and speaks to Jesus with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Things like this exist here, but of what use is this insignificant thing to all these people?”
Andre hesitates. It is like this when you think of it by faith, but it is like that when you think of human reason.
Many are hesitant to stand in the middle of faith. It's like that when you hear the word, but when you go out into the world, it's like that again. What should I do? A Christian must be a confident person. A person who believes and acts zealously is much wiser than hesitating and hesitating and losing all of his time.
In fact, it seems Andre is hesitating, but there is something wonderful about him. He doesn't do it on his own, but he has always played a role in building someone up. First, he met Jesus and introduced him to his brother Peter. And they brought Peter to Jesus. Even in the text, although he was hesitating, he did not ignore the child who came with that little thing and brought him to Jesus. A person who builds up others--that is also a valuable mission. You can see it in Andre's figure. Because of Andrew's faith, the two little fish and the five barley loaves were put into the hands of the Lord.
The child gave by faith.
Two fish and five barley loaves are the portion of a single meal of the poorest of the poor. But the nameless child wanted to give it to the Lord. Perhaps he never dreamed that it would feed five thousand people. Rather, the hungry Lord must have given it to eat. The little food he brought to eat - but this poor child gave it to Jesus out of love for the Lord. If I had been an adult, I probably wouldn't have been able to do this because of my face. How can I give you this little thing...? However, this little child was given as it was, with only the heart of Jesus' love.
Jesus received this faith. The Lord accomplished miracles through this faith of love. Miracles were performed by the Lord, but it was the faith of a child who gave with joy that made the miracle happen.
This is a biblical principle. To accomplish the greatest work of faith through the smallest things--that is the principle of the Bible. It is the principle of God to allow us to experience the grace of becoming strong from weakness.
It's not just materials. Even if a person is weak, when he comes to the Lord with faith, God raises him up. You lift it high. It makes you strong and beautiful. This principle is also contained in the words in which Joseph, who was sold, became prime minister, Moses, who was abandoned, saved the people of Israel, and when a child like David defeated the giant Goliath by faith. This principle of God is also contained in the words of Gideon, who led only three hundred warriors to fight in front of a hundred thousand Midianites. It is a biblical principle, God's principle, that strengthens from weakness and accomplishes great things through small things.
How can this be just a thing of the past? God, who has never changed, works that way today. He lifts up the weak and makes them strong; He lifts the needy and makes them powerful; He lifts the weak and makes them work wonders. He works that way for those who come to the Lord by faith. I bless you that you receive great hope and strength from these words.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise,
He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong,
God bless the lowly and despised things of the world,
He chooses the things that are not, to abolish the things that are.
This was so that no flesh might boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Twelve baskets of blessings have been given.
When the child gave generously to the Lord with what he had, he was blessed with water and 12 baskets left over. God's miracles are like that. When I give with faith, God's blessing is to fill it with twelve baskets of blessings. It is God's blessing to repay me with twelve baskets of blessings when I dedicate myself in faith. God blesses me with twelve baskets of blessings when I have been faithful with joy.
In my life, no matter how difficult the moment, I hope that God will change that moment into a path of twelve baskets of blessing if we go forward with faith. No matter how impossible it is, if you come to God with faith, believe that God who has received that faith will open it abundantly with the blessings of twelve baskets.
Don't let yourself down because you're weak and weak. Even if you do not have enough or lack of ability, believe that if you leave it to God, God will change you and lift you up high. Just as he feeds 5,000 people with five barley loaves, just as he defeats 100,000 troops with 300 loaves of loaves, believe in God's grace to establish, guide, and bless people of faith in any case.
exalt him, and he will exalt you
If you embrace him, he will glorify you.
He will put a beautiful coffin on your head
I will give you a crown of glory. Proverbs 4:8-9
In the life entrusted to God, God gives abundant blessings of life. Even if it is a small thing, even if it is a fragile being, when it is lifted into the Lord's hand, two fish and five barley loaves change into two, giving the blessing of collecting twelve baskets even after five thousand people eat. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will become the saints who receive these twelve baskets of blessing.
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