HELPFUL

John 6:9-11 "there's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish.  But what good is that with this huge crowd?"

"Tell everyone to sit down,"Jesus said.  So they all sat down on the grassy slopes.  (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)  Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people.  Afterward, He did the same with the fish.  And they all ate as much as they wanted.

One day, I think we'll be very surprised to hear from Jesus why He did certain miracles and who He did them for.  It's very clear in the story of the loaves and the fishes that the miracle was a blessing for the five thousand plus hungry people who had come to hear Jesus but I think the miracle was also for one little boy..the one who brought the loaves and fishes.. 

When I read this story, I can't help but think of my little Zac.  My son Zach is seven years old and he loves to be helpful.  I can totally picture Zac being the boy who hears about the crisis and comes to the disciples offering his little basket of bread and fish...and when the disciples said "but what good is that with this huge crowd?", I can also see his dejected little face look down at the ground and his lip start to quiver because he so wanted to be helpful and the disciples pretty much called his helpful offer useless.  I know that face because I've seen it.  I've done the same thing to him more times than I care to admit.

But, thankfully, Jesus isn't like us.  Jesus saw the sweetness and the enormous amount of faith in the little boy's offer and decided to make a huge deal out of it.  When the passage says that Jesus gave thanks to God I think His prayer might of sounded something like this..

"Father! Thank you so much for Zac's perfect gift!.  This is EXACTLY what we needed and we are soooo grateful that you brought Zac to us today.  If it not for him, we wouldn't be able to eat today. But because you brought him and his awesome gift of bread and fish, we will not go hungry today!  Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!"

And as He said "Amen!", I can totally picture Zac's whole face lighting up and a smile breaking across his face...I can see the wonder in his eyes when, as the basket's were being passed, they continued to yield bread and fish until every mouth was fed.  And then to top it off, Jesus says "gather the leftovers so that NOTHING is wasted."  Even in this, Jesus is giving great value to the little boys gift. I would imagine that he sent the boy home to his family with far more than five loaves and two fish, giving him the chance to be the hero once again that night.

I know that I'm definitely using alot of sanctified imagination here but I do think it's not far off because that's the way Jesus is.  He makes a huge deal of the little gestures of faith.  He goes way out of His way to make all of us and just one of us feel helpful.