August 20, 2024 Devo

When I was a pastor in Phoenix, we had outgrown the facility that we were worshipping in and needed to build something bigger. I made the announcement on a Sunday that our board would soon begin the process of designing a large worship center to accommodate our growing congregation. After the service, a 12-year-old named Ian came up to me and said, “If we’re going to build a new sanctuary, we’re going to have to have a Capital Funds Campaign, and I’d like to be the first to give!” With that, he handed me a five-dollar bill. It was the money he had made from his very first babysitting job that he had done that past Friday. I was moved to tears.
When we kicked off our campaign, I told the church about Ian’s gift. I shared how he had given generously, enthusiastically, and sacrificially. I challenged them to do the same. Ian’s example became the catalyst for a campaign that allowed a 4.5-million-dollar project to become a reality. Sometimes miracles start with one person taking a step of faith or one step of selfless sacrifice. God can do a lot with a little when it comes from a pure heart.
I thought about Ian as I thought about the young boy in our story today. Here’s a kid who overhears the need for food and doesn’t hesitate to offer his lunch to help. I’m sure he had no idea what Jesus was going to do. I’m sure he would have never imagined that his little gift could be the ingredients to feed thousands of people. And I’m sure he didn’t have any idea that we’d still be talking about him two thousand years later. He simply saw a need and gave what he had. And that’s all Jesus needed for a miracle.
Let this lesson sink deep into your heart. Don’t you ever let the Enemy make you believe that your little part, your small gift, or that your small way to help doesn’t matter. It does. It matters to others, and it matters to God. Our sacrificial gifts and efforts are the stuff from which God can do amazing things and touch and transform lives in ways that we never imagined. One young boy with a lunch showed the disciples one of the most important lessons of the day. Sometimes the miracle starts with YOU! That’s God’s Word for you today.