{"id":2739,"date":"2012-05-15T01:00:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/?p=2739"},"modified":"2012-05-14T22:47:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T05:47:29","slug":"more-than-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/15\/more-than-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reading The Jesus Storybook Bible<\/a><\/em> to my little Ruby the other day and in between several readings of the \u201cone about the sick girl\u201d we also managed to read one about Jesus feeding the five thousand. Jesus instructed the disciples to feed the crowd of people who had been listening to Him talk. When they started discussing what they could offer such a crowd, one boy produced his lunch of five loaves and two fish:<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI have some,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 friends laughed when they saw his little lunch. \u201cThat\u2019s not nearly enough!\u201d they said.<\/em><\/p>\n

But they were wrong. Jesus knew it didn\u2019t matter how much the little boy had. God would make it enough, more than enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cBring me what you have.\u201d And so the little boy gave Jesus his lunch. Jesus winked at the little boy and whispered in his ear, \u201cWatch!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow in the world will Jesus feed everyone with just that?\u201d Jesus\u2019 friends said, because they thought it was impossible.<\/em><\/p>\n

But Jesus knew the One who made all the fish in the oceans. And Jesus knew the One who in the very beginning had made everything out of nothing at all. How hard would something like this be for Someone like that?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026It\u2019s what God had been doing from the beginning, of course. Taking the nothing and making it everything. Taking the emptiness and filling it up. Taking the darkness and making it light.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

What a well-timed reminder that story was! \u00a0I have so little to offer to God. In fact, I have nothing <\/em>to offer Him.\u00a0He’s infinite and I’m finite. He’s holy and I’m a sinner. He’s strong and I’m weak. Anything and everything that I am or do or have is only by His grace to start with!<\/p>\n

But it doesn’t matter how how weak or stupid or inadequate I feel. God has called me to serve Him. He could have made me a super-woman if He wanted to, but He didn’t. So I just need to offer myself to Him and trust Him with the results. He takes my five loaves and two fish (all courtesy of His grace) and then He<\/em> makes it enough — more than enough<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That way\u00a0He<\/em> gets the glory<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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________________________<\/p>\n

(Illustration taken from The Jesus Bible Storybook<\/em>, by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Jago.)<\/p>\n

The Jesus Bible Storybook<\/em> is a charming Bible story book that continually points to Christ, God’s grace, and the story of redemption, while refraining from the moralizing that is often present in children’s Bible storybooks. It does, however, take some liberties (such as portraying Jesus winking to the boy who gave him his loaves and fishes, which Jesus certainly could have done, but the inspired account does not include this detail).<\/p>\n

The author does an excellent job of making the biblical accounts exciting and accessible to young children. My granddaughters love it. But, like most Bible storybooks written to reach little ones, it does need some qualifying along the way. When you read any Bible storybook with your children, remember that it is not inspired Scripture. Don’t let storybooks displace the reading of actual Scripture with your children. Instead, let it lead you back<\/em> to Scripture. Weigh its accounts against God’s Word as you read and discuss its content with your little ones.<\/p>\n

We hope to offer a review on this and other Bible storybooks in the future.<\/p>\n

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