A permission slip and a sack lunch. What a great memory. It meant we were getting out of school for a field trip, to the museum, or the zoo, or for those of you who grew up around San Antonio, a trip to the Buttercrust Bakery. Ooh I can still smell the fresh baked bread and couldn’t wait to get our sample loaf, blue gingham pencil and brown paper book covers. We recently toured the building prior to its renovation, and the ten year old in me was still wide-eyed at what was left of the inner workings, and fascinated with all the back rooms we never got to see.
My day started as do many, with a full list of to do’s and the challenges that await me just past my back porch steps. As the worry lines on my forehead awoke, I recalled a bible story. Jesus and his disciples had come to the house of Martha and Mary. Martha was busy preparing for the group which was most likely many more than just Jesus and the 12. Instead of helping, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening.
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
This story comes to mind often, because I am more Martha than Mary, “worried and upset about many things”. Imagine, to just sit a Jesus’ feet and listen. I recently wrote that we would not know all the grace we have been given until we sit at Jesus’ feet and hear Him tell the story. I wondered, why do I have to wait until then? I chose to turn off the radio, the cell phone, and the tempest of thoughts swirling in my head to just sit at the feet of Jesus. He then told me another story.
The feeding of the five thousand is told in all four Gospel accounts. Matthew’s account said there were five thousand men, besides women and children. It was late and they were hungry. Jesus said, “Give them something to eat.”
“Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” John 6:7
The disciples were concerned as to how they could afford to feed this crowd. They found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. His “sack” lunch. Jesus had everyone sit down, He gave thanks for the food and began to share it. When they were all fed, they gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers.
Too often, my bank account feels like merely lunch money when a multitude of bills are gathering. I am thankful for what I have and it always seems to satisfy the need, though there are not always twelve baskets of leftovers afterward.
In certain seasons, I am blessed with the ability to weave a few words together and if the wind is blowing just right, a melody or two may come along to go with them. My “sack lunch” of sorts. I am the boy with five loaves and two fish. I offer up the little that I have to be used as Jesus’ sees fit.
I pray that my songs, my stories, and most importantly, all that I am, be blessed and multiplied, whether to feed the five thousand or simply for the one soul that needs to hear it today.
Don’t worry so much.
Sit at Jesus’s feet and listen.
Be the boy with a sack lunch to offer.
And be
Blessed in Great Measure
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