Standing out from the crowd

You might have heard the story of the feeding of the 5000 before – a story in which Jesus takes 5 loaves and 2 fish and miraculously feeds a crowd in which the men alone numbered 5000. You might be wondering what it’s got to say to us today, when we can’t even get within 2m of someone outside our household, let alone be in a huge crowd.

I wondered that too, until Holy Spirit reminded me that this isn’t just the story of a huge crowd, but it’s the story of an individual too.

In John’s version of this story (John 6:1-14) we find out that the food belonged to a ‘young boy’. That’s all John says, although from this we can also know that he was likely a peasant, forced to work to support his family and packed up with a whole day’s food to avoid the cost of buying anything. John is the only Gospel that mentions the boy, even though the story is recorded 3 times in the Bible.

You see, the authors were more interested in the food and the crowds, whereas Jesus was interested in the individual.

The same is true today. As we joined in prayer at the end of May 2020 to pray ‘thy kingdom come’, we might have been startled to realise that over 5 billion people in the world do not know Jesus. But each is an individual who God longs to relate to.

Like me, you might have particular people on your heart who don’t yet know Jesus. Remember that God doesn’t see a crowd, but He sees individuals. He knows each and every one of those 5 billion by name, including your friends and family, and He longs for them to be in relationship with Him.

Why not take a moment with me to pray for each of those people on your heart by name today?