196 swered in John 21:17: “Lord, thou knowest all th ing s.” Andrew “ finds a lad.” (He is th e man who is good a t finding, for he found P ete r.) The lad has five small loaves and two fishes. W hat a sweet little story th ere must be concerning th a t lad if we only knew it. No doubt when he saw th e crowd passing his home he asked his m other’s permission to go w ith them , and like a good mother she prepared some lunch for him con sisting of these five barley loaves and two dried herring. Now if Andrew had only stopped when he said, “There is a lad here which h ath five loaves and two small fishes” wouldn’t it have been splendid? Such an answer would have evinced a faith which would have pleased th e Lord. I wonder if we cannot learn th is im portant lesson? Andrew’s answer was like the statem en t of M artha in John 11:21, “Lord, if thou h ad st been here, my b ro ther had not died.” How she disappointed the Lord! (Psa. 78 :19 ). Is not th e bread and bu tte r question, afte r all, always th e g reat testing ques tion? The devil has sw itched more Christians from th e rig h t p ath through th is th an th rough any o th er agency. (3 ) FOOD FURNISHED, vs. 8-11. ' “Five barley loaves and two small fishes.” , Note what the Lord does w ith these five loaves and two fishes, or, as we would call them , “Five little buns and two dried h erring ,” a little lunch fo r a little boy. His first command is “Make th e men sit down” and th en “Bring them to me” (Matt. 1 4 :1 8 ). Then, w ith eyes tu rn ed to Heaven, He thanked His F ath e r for th e little, and began dis tribu ting to His disciples. He always works through n atu ra l channels. He links H is followers w ith H imself in His m ighty work. W hatever comes from His hand commands a blessing (Lev.
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S 26 :8 ; Deut. 32 :30 ). “ How should o n e cha se a t h o u s tw o p u t t e n thou san d t o flig ht .” If th a t is true, what could a hund red men do? A little in H is hands grows mightily. Bring your little to Him, and also your littleness. P u t your small offerings a t His disposal. P u t your little life into His hand. Let the Lord bless it, break it and bestow it upon others. P a rt of your life may go to some cultured soul and p art of it to some culprit. Lives need to be pu t into th e hands of Jesus. How soon th e m ultitude would be fed if lives were broken and passed on! Think what Christ did w ith the 120 on th e day of Pentecost! In forty years Hudson Taylor saw seven hundred m issionaries and one thousand native workers in China. We need to be engaged w ith H is m ightiness rath e r th a n w ith our littleness. (4) FRAGMENTS GATHERED, vs. 12-14 “Gather th e fragm ents th a t nothing be lost.” There was abundance for all, but th e fragm ents were precious. Nothing is small in God’s eyes. Enough is wasted each day in Christian homes to evangelize th e world. Have you not had His blessing? Then let nothing be lost. There is no waste in nature. All seeming waste is utilized. The metal, the oil, th e coal which we prize so high ly are proofs of th is fact. There is no annihilation in nature. Do not waste moments. Opportuni ties, when gathered, mean much. Is not this an illu stration of th e text: “Give and it shall be given unto you.” Is it not tru e th a t the more we give the more we have? W hat is the meaning of the twelve baskets full? Is no t twelve Isra el’s number? Will th ere no t be crumbs enough from th e Master’s table to sup ply all Israel in th e days to come when He shall come back and tak e th e sceptre
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