My Lunch...My Life

The boy hesitated as Andrew pushed him toward Jesus.  “Sir, I have only a small lunch, 5 loaves and 2 fish, but if this could help feed some of the people, you can have it.” I’m sure Jesus smiled and said,  “Thank you.  I think this is exactly what I need.”

The boy watched in awe as, with that small lunch, Jesus fed more than 5,000, with lots of leftovers.“Wow,” the boy responded.  “If He can do that with my lunch, I wonder what He could do with my whole life!”Each of us could wonder the same thing:  What if I give Him my whole life?!?What if I give him my time?  Would my day look different?  Would I get the priority things done?   Would He multiply my time to enable me to accomplish more of His work?What if I give Him my talents?  He gave them to me to begin with—would He develop them more fully, more beautifully.  Would He fill me up and pour me out to touch every life I encounter?   Would he surprise me with the good works He created me to do?And what if I give Him my treasure?   Do I really need so much of it?  It’s just loaned to me anyway.  He tells me not to invest in things that don’t last, but to invest in heavenly endeavors, where the return on investment multiplies many times—for eternity.So what if I don’t stop at time, talents and treasure?  What if I give Him my hopes and my dreams?  It happened to me.  I had dreams:  to be a writer and editor, to marry a great guy, to make my life count.  I gave them to Him—and the vastness of the betterness has been staggering.  I would have settled for so much less—God had so much more.But wait.  What happens if I give Him those negative things in my life--my shame, my guilt, my fears?  Certainly He won’t multiply those; maybe He will halve them.  No, not halves.  He erases them, forgives them, buries them, sets me free from them.So Lord, I give you everything I am and have—puny as it all is—to do what You desire with all You made me to be. The song says, “I can only imagine!”  And that is true—I can only imagine.  But His Word promises that He will do far more with what we give him—even our whole lives—than we can ask or even imagine!c Judy Douglass