Packing a Lunch that Jesus Can Use

I love when you read a passage of Scripture you’ve read many times before and still walk away with fresh truth every single time. Truly, Scripture is living and active. It’s God-breathed and supplies us with exactly what we need each time we read it. Here’s an example of encountering new insight in an old passage:

I was reading in Mark 6 about Jesus sending out the 12 disciples, then listening as they reported all the amazing things they saw and did on their inaugural mission trip. As usual, people kept pressing in, so Jesus suggested they take a boat across to a quieter spot. Then, SURPRISE!, the people “ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them” (Mk 6:33). Instead of sighing and whining about the inconvenience, Jesus “had compassion on them” and began healing and teaching them.

As the day wore on, the disciples started to worry about the logistics of hosting a huge, hungry throng of people in the middle of the wilderness. It’s not like McDonalds was close by, and GrubHub wasn’t yet a thing. How were they going to feed all these people? The answer seemed obvious: send them home. Here’s how Mark records it:

By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” (Mk 6:35-36).

Seems completely logical to me. But, because Jesus is Jesus, and because He loves to teach about His powerful provision, Jesus gets that twinkle in His eye and responds, “You feed them.”

Huh.

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. The disciples were baffled. Despite the fact that they had just returned from a mission trip where they experienced first-hand Jesus’ power over sickness and evil, they still looked at this problem through a worldly lens.

Ummm… what?

Us feed them?

Riiiiight.

With what money? With what food?

How in the world do you want us to accomplish this?

I imagine Jesus smiling, immensely enjoying himself but masterfully concealing his excitement about what’s coming next. He calmly tells them to go amongst the people and see what food they can gather. The disciples return with only five small loaves of bread and two fish. (Commentaries indicate that such a small amount packed in a lunch probably indicates it belonged to a child.) And then… well, you know the story… Jesus uses that meager amount to miraculously feed the enormous crowd of thousands, with plenty left over to feed the astounded disciples.

We’ve all read it before. It’s a familiar passage that many of us have heard since we were little people in Sunday School. But this time, when I read it last week while at my kitchen table, I started to wonder about that kid in the crowd. The one who gave up his lunch. As I paused and looked up from my Bible, I gazed across my kitchen, with the sink full of dishes and the countertops cluttered with school papers, mail, and lunch boxes. And my mind wandered from that boy in the crowd to his mother at home. That kid probably had a mom who packed his lunch before he took off with his buddies, running to find Jesus. And that mom probably had no idea that her kid’s lunch would be the raw materials for a miracle. There’s no way she could have known she was packing the makings of a mid-day meal for thousands.

That mom was just going through the motions of her daily grind, taking care of her house, husband, and kids. Packing a lunch was probably something she did daily - just another insignificant household chore. Little did she know that Jesus had big plans for her son’s lunch. And as I was thinking these thoughts, it struck me. It may sound wacky, but it was just like God whispered it (silently) to my mind:

You never know when the lunch you pack for your kid may later be used for God’s glory.

You never know when the lunch you pack for your kid may later be used for God’s glory.

I’m not talking about Jesus appearing at my kid’s elementary school and performing miracles with his turkey sandwich and doritos. But I am talking about everything else I pack into my kids’ hearts and minds before school. I suddenly have lots of questions.

Before school each morning, what am I doing to help prepare my kids to see God at work around them throughout their day?

During the morning rush, how am I equipping them to live Godly lives at school that day?

What truths am I sending with them daily as they walk out the door and into the school building?

When they leave home each morning, are they ready and excited to love others like Jesus?

I realize that on most school mornings, I am often much more focused on packing my kids’ lunches and bookbags than I am on packing their hearts and minds. And you and I never know when the things we pack for our kids will later be used by the Savior. So this week I’ve tried to be more intentional about the process of “packing.” When I sign their homework folders, I pray for their teachers. When I pack their lunches, I pray for them. On the way to school, we listen to Christian music or work on our family memory verse (which the older ones just love - insert eye roll here). When we sit in car line, I remind them to keep their eyes open today for someone who needs the love of Jesus (“I know, Mom, I know. *sigh & eye roll* Bye!”).

We’re not perfect. Some days the prayers are much shorter than others. Other days the ride to school is silent or moody (“Y’all stop arguing! Don’t look at each other, talk to each other, or touch each other!”). But I’m a work in progress, and so are my kids. I may not pack the yummiest or healthiest lunches on the planet, but I can at least be purposeful with what I pack in my kids’ hearts and minds. May they each have something available for Jesus to multiply and use.