“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”   (John 6:1-15, NIV)

Generous giving is easily pigeonholed by size and kind.

Headlines constantly make this point: “Priceless Artifacts Donated to Local Museum” or “University Receives $100 Million Donation.” Extraordinary gifts like these are the definition of generosity… or so we think.

But where does this leave everyday gifts? Is generous giving possible with the ordinary? Can the pauper give extravagantly? Or does that privilege belong only to the prince and the princess?

In God’s economy, generosity begins very simply with what’s made available – giving freely and abundantly from whatever resources He’s entrusted us to manage. By this standard, a beggar can out-give a billionaire.

Jesus illustrates this point by receiving five humble loaves and two small fish from a boy to feed the five thousand. Any and all means could have been used by Jesus, but He chose to use what was made available to Him. It wasn’t about the number of fish or the quality of the bread. Rather, Jesus determined to reveal Himself, showing how even a little bit offered freely is used to glorify God.

Regardless of size and kind, whatever is placed in Jesus’ hands is abundantly blessed. This is the real twist to generous giving. We make plans for giving generously “someday,” but the truth is that it can begin now with whatever we entrust to Jesus.

Regardless of what’s given, we have confidence that the result will be a blessing in Jesus’ name. We can have an extraordinary impact – even if it’s just from sharing our bread crumbs and fish sticks.