Article March 28, 1936 Issue

"Give ye them to eat"

LYMAN S. ABBOTT

IN Matthew's account of the feeding of the five thousand it is related that the disciples came to Jesus, asking him to send the people away so that they might go to the villages and buy themselves food. But Jesus replied, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." What! Feed such a multitude with five loaves of bread and two small fishes! It seemed incredible. Yet the Master took this seemingly meager supply and, after blessing and breaking it, gave it to his disciples to distribute to the multitude. That there was an abundance for all was proved, for Matthew's account reads that "they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full."

Sometimes we are tempted to believe that our store of spiritual understanding is insufficient to meet another's need and therefore hesitate to share it, but like the loaves and fishes which Jesus blessed and brake, we find it multiplied manyfold when shared in the right way. Do we sometimes withhold a word of encouragement when we see someone struggling with a problem? The very statement of truth that has been a help and comfort to us in our time of need may be the very thought required to help another to solve his problem, and by sharing our experience we may help him to destroy the error.

Are we hesitant about applying for church membership, fearing that we may be called upon to take an active part in the church work? In such a case we need to see that we not only are depriving ourselves of an opportunity for serving our fellow men, but may also be depriving others of the help and counsel we could give because of our greater experience along certain lines.

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