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Give God Your Basket


John 6:1-14

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”


The disciples looked in the boy's basket and asked, "But what is this when there are so many?" And I think all of us have felt this way before.


We look in our basket at what we have to give and think:

"What is this when there are so many?"

"What good can I offer?"


This story teaches that our little becomes much when placed within the hands of Jesus.

God already knew the need and knew how He would solve it (or should I say WHO would solve it!).

He wants to use what YOU have, what I have - what WE have in our baskets to meet needs. He has placed us right where we are with a plan to use us!

All we have to do is give Him our basket.


Isaiah 61:3 says that He has planted us right where we are to "display His glory." The job we go to everyday, the family we live with, the neighbors on our street - we are placed in these environments not on accident, but on assignment. God wants to use US to reveal His reality, display His glory, and showcase His magnificence.


So...why don't we give him our basket?


  1. Insecurity - "How could He use this? What could I do?"

  2. Comparison - "Look at what she has in her basket!" "I can't do what he does?"

  3. Forgetting why we are here - We can get so caught up in building our own kingdom, we forget to build His.

My challenge to us is this:

Ask yourself...."What do I have to give?"

And then...GIVE IT.

Time, energy, friendship, a meal for a new mom, a card in the mail, a donation to a non--profit, a lunch date, a phone call, cookie baking skills, a love for kids -

WHATEVER HE GAVE YOU, He can use it and He WANTS to use it for His glory.


Won't you let Him? Let go of insecurity. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139). He formed you. He shaped you. Lay down comparison. You were made one-of-a-kind. Remember why you are here.


Give God what you have and just see what He can do with it!



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