July 31, 2011

Matthew 14:17- “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.

This comes from Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand. As I was leading worship, playing hymns with my guitar, I was struggling to keep it in tune. The thought crossed my mind that this was a cheap, old guitar and that it wasn’t worth the effort anymore. But I also remembered the countless times throughout the years I heard skilled musicians make good music out of less than perfect instruments. On the other hand, I’ve heard some pretty well crafted, and expensive, guitars producing rather mediocre results in the hands of unskilled players. It’s not so much the quality of what’s being played but the quality of the one playing that counts. The disciples only had were a little bread and fish, but put in the hands of Jesus something wonderful became of them. We spend so much time evaluating ourselves; our looks, our gifts, our abilities. Maybe we should be less concerned with what we think we have and more concerned with placing whatever we have in the right hands. Maybe this week?

Don