Are you willing to offer your fish?

I have not been able to escape a thought that I’ve had since early in the summer.  While at church, the pastor referred to the story of Jesus feeding five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish.  The story says that these items came from one person.  Now, the pastor suggested the other 4,999 may have had something they could’ve contributed, but they never spoke up. 

In defense of the crowd, the bible says they weren’t asked if they had food to offer, nor were they expecting a meal, and everyone ate until they were satisfied. Yet, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this concept.  First, I began thinking of fish as being equal to time, money, talent, and so on. Then, I started asking myself, ‘how often am I willing to offer my fish?’ Or, even better, ‘how often am I unwilling to offer my fish?’

Sometimes we feel our contribution is too small, or simply not enough, that we never offer it.  We tell ourselves, ‘it won’t make a difference.’ Or, ‘I think they already have enough.’ And while that may be true, could your contribution make the task easier or faster or better or just put a smile on someone’s face?  You never know. What I do know is that the magnitude of the need doesn’t matter.  We all have so much to offer that it would be such a waste if we never speak up to share our gifts.     

xoxo,