“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish but what are they for so many?”
– John 6:9
I trust many of us know this story in John 6:9, the feeding of over 5,000 people. And it all started with a boy who had five barley loaves, loaves of bread, and two fish. And the question here is obvious. What is that going to do for 5,000 people, five loaves of bread and two fish?
As I sit around the dinner table with my family and my growing kids and growing number of kids, we have four Lord willing in the process of adopting number five, and five loaves and two fish won’t necessarily feed these hungry mouths around my table, much less 5,000 people. 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.
John 6:9 Reminds Us that Jesus Can Use Us
The picture in John 6:9 is that your life in the hands of Jesus can be used in ways far beyond what you can ask or imagine.
Don’t underestimate what can happen when a small amount of gifts is put into the hands of Jesus to use for his glory, for the glory of the father, among multitudes of people. Don’t underestimate for a second what can happen when just a little bit is put in the hands of Jesus.
I want to encourage your life today. Do not underestimate what God can and will and wants to do through your life, through the gifts, the skills, the resources, the talents, the education, the opportunities that God has entrusted to you. Don’t let this bypass you. Just like, “Surely he’s talking to someone else, somebody who’s really gifted or.” That’s the whole point of this story. It was five loaves and two fish. It looked like nothing. You may think, “What do I have to give when it comes to the Kingdom of God? What do I have to give when it comes to the mission of God in the world?” Your life in the hands of Jesus can be used in ways far beyond what you can ask or imagine. That’s the picture here in John 6:9 for the glory of God.
John 6:9 Reminds Us to Surrender to God
So, I want to encourage you in a fresh way today to surrender your gifts, your life, your resources, put them in the hands of Jesus and say in a fresh way today, “Here I am. Use me for your glory, right where I live, wherever you lead me, however you want to use me.” And don’t underestimate what happens when we say that before God on a day by day basis when we bring our figurative loaves of barley and two fish to him on a daily basis see what he does.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise God
Oh God, we praise you. We praise you for your power. We praise you for your glory on display in this story as you miraculously took a little bit of food and fed thousands of people with it. All glory be to your name and we praise you for the way you did it through a boy with barley loaves and a couple of fish and the way you work today. How you have chosen to show your might, and your glory, and your power through us through little gifts we have that we bring to the table we offer before you and you use in ways far beyond what we can ever do on our own.
This little boy with five loaves and two fish can feed a few people but in your hands this fed 5,000 people. God, please help us to put all that we have into your hands. All of our gifts, skills, education, experience, resources, money, talent, time, all of it God, take it all today.
We lay it before you today and we pray use us for your glory and don’t let us underestimate what our lives can do in your hands in the lives of others who were in need, in the lives of others who need to see your grace and see your glory on display. God, please, please, please use our lives as instruments for your glory maximally. I pray for that in my own life. God, I want to be using maximally for your glory today and tomorrow in every facet of my life. I know I’ve only got a little bit of time on this earth.
This Verse Leads Us to Ask God to Use Us
Please cause my life to count maximally for your glory. And God I pray that for others who are listening right now. God, I pray that you would take their lives and all that you’ve entrusted to them. Every good gift is from your hand. And you would take it, take it from them, and use it to be a blessing to others. Use it to show your glory, your love, your grace, your provision, your power, your might in the lives of others around us, those who are listening, my life. God, please, please use our lives. Take our lives today as offerings to be used as instruments for your fame in ways far beyond why we can ask, or imagine, or ever expect. May it be so we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
