Casandra Martin

I make lunches. It is on my “mom list” of things to do every day. Kids going off to school need energy for all that learning I am sure they are diligently doing, so every evening I grab the paper sacks and fill them up.

There is a paper sack story in the Bible. We never meet the mom who packs the lunch, but I’m sure she wanted all the same things I want for my children. She sends her son off to listen to a great teacher, providing him with five loaves and two fish to get him through the day.

As the sun moves across the sky, people in the crowd get hungry. Stomachs begin to rumble and patience starts wearing a little thin. Jesus notices. He asks the disciples to feed the crowd. They pull out their pockets and shrug their shoulders.

In comes our little boy. He has a lunch. Not much, a snack really. But he gives it to Jesus. It is a simple thing. Yet in its simplicity, there is tremendous faith, trust, and surrender. The boy has no way of knowing what Jesus has in mind. He just gives Him his lunch. It’s not a lot, but he is willing to go hungry. Willing to give all he has.

The rest of the story paints itself on the canvas of miracles. Five thousand men fed, plus women and children. Twelve baskets of leftovers picked up. Talk of crowning a new king. But don’t take your eyes off the little boy’s face. He gave his lunch to Jesus. Jesus took his sacrifice and has used to feed people, physically and spiritually, for two thousand years.

We look at the things in our hands and measure them by the size of the need. That is what the disciples did. The little boy looked at his lunch and measured it by the size of God’s heart. He put it in Jesus’ hands, and let God take his gift and use it for His glory. Can you imagine the story he went home and told his mom?

My Jesus Resolution today is to give my lunch to Jesus. God has the power to transform us even through paper sacks. It doesn’t matter how big or small, my challenge is to put my lunch in Jesus’ hands. He’ll take care of the rest. Can you imagine the stories we might hear in heaven of how God used a few paper sacks to touch the world?