Transfer It and God Will Transform It! By Babatunde Olugboji

This week, we will revisit the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, the only miracle of Jesus, apart from His resurrection, that was recorded in all four gospels. (John 6, Matthew 14, Mark. 6; Luke 9) And one of the key lessons of that miracle is that when you transfer what you have to Jesus, He will transform it.

In John 6 when Jesus was inquiring from His disciples about the modalities of feeding the thronging multitudes, Andrew was worried about the quantity of what was available: “Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and 5 small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9) What Andrew didn’t realize was that it was not about how big or how small, it was about what you do with what you have. 

Aren’t we like Andrew sometimes? My salary is small, I can’t give; my apartment is small; I can’t receive visitors, my car is small; I can’t give you a ride; I don’t have the wisdom of Solomon, I can’t encourage you. I’m still looking for someone to encourage me. But Jesus intentionally used a small amount of food to demonstrate that it is more about releasing what you have to the one who makes the moon reflect the sun, and less about the size of your resources. God is big, even if your resources are not, because he is the source of all resources. 

Jesus didn’t expect that boy to have enough to feed the large crowd, because He already knew what He was going to do, He already had a plan of multiplication. (John 6:6b) All He expected that boy to do was for him to place the little he had in his hands and leave the rest to God.

Jesus is impressed with givers. Givers of resources, givers of time and talent. Givers of love.

So, Jesus transformed what the boy transferred to him. Isn’t that wonderful? It may be small but transfer it to Him and see what He will do with it. You can have little, and it will remain little if you hold on to it. But if you give your little to God, He’ll surely multiply it, the way He multiplied the 5 loaves and 2 fish. 

Remember what the widow of Zarephath told Elijah when he asked her for a piece of bread? “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. (1 Kings 17:12) She surrendered her little flour and oil to God and God multiplied it. But it is not just about material things, it is also about your heart. 

Someone once said: “Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” Permit me to modify that statement thus: “See this week as another opportunity to write in a  book we all must write this year. So, try your best to write a good one.” One sure way of writing a good one is to surrender all to our father in heaven and witness His multiple blessings upon your life as we approach 2022. 

Have a great week.

Kingdom Dynamics, a weekly column  written by Dr. Babatunde Olugboji, the President, Kingdom House, a non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA.