The story of the 5 loaves and 2 fish that we read about in Matthew 14:13-21 is a very encouraging and uplifting miracle, showing the compassion that Jesus had for others. It further shows His amazing capacity to produce a miraculous event, when necessary. The number of people who ate and were filled was about 5,000 men, besides women and children, perhaps a total approaching 15,000 to 20,000 people. And after they had all eaten, there were still twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
It is an example of how our great God can provide in such abundance, even from insignificant beginnings. The 5 loaves and 2 fish would normally only feed a very few people, but not in this case, as thousands were fully catered for.
Great things being achieved from very little can also be seen that out of all the people on earth today, around 8 billion, God has called us into His Church. It is amazing to think that we, of all people, should be given knowledge that the world is oblivious to.
A further example of small beginnings can be seen in Deuteronomy 7:6-7: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples.”
These small beginnings can be accomplished by very ordinary people as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29: “…for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
We can see from just these few sections of Scripture that God’s choices are not what the world would make. In Luke 12:32, we see encouragement about God’s people down through the ages: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
The Church was a little flock then and is still a little flock today, but what a job the current little flock has been given to do. We are to get the message out about the coming Kingdom of God on earth and to act as watchmen in so doing. On our website, we read about the Work that the Church of God has to do today:
“We believe that it is the Church’s commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations as a witness, to warn all nations, and especially the lost tribes of the house of Israel (mainly in the United States, Great Britain, certain Commonwealth nations and nations in Northwestern Europe) of impending danger, and to feed the flock.”
This takes a lot of time and effort but as the people of God, we call to mind Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and it confers a responsibility on all members to back up and support this Work.
Another example of “small things” can be found in this example as commented upon by Wikipedia:
“The lesson of the widow’s mite or the widow’s offering is presented in two of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4) when Jesus is teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Judea, worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.”
This example has been used many times in messages and articles down through the years, showing such a willing and giving attitude from someone who had very little. But from that very little, as was highlighted in the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish, God can accomplish much. It is clear that no offering is too small in God’s eyes.
We have just kept the annual spring Holy Days where God instructs us to give as he or she is able, and our offerings will help us to do the Work that we have been called to do. We should always do this cheerfully as God instructs us in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, so that the good news of the soon coming Kingdom of God will continue to be preached by us as is required by God.
Let us have the same attitude that Jesus had when His parents were looking for Him as we read in Luke 2:49: “And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’”
Let us, likewise, be about our Father’s business!