The Broken Pieces

I’m reading in the book of John at the moment and this morning, John 6:13 caught my attention. Jesus was feeding the 5 thousand. He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and then distributed it.

How many times have I read this passage? And when I read it again, I have a tendency to “skim” since I know the story. But God…….this morning slowed me down, and I read this verse: 

“So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost.'” (John 6:13).

This is more than a story about not “wasting” the leftovers. The original word for fragment in Greek is klasma, which is defined as broken pieces or broken fragments. The word for lost is apollymi which means to be put out of the way entirely or to be rendered useless or to cause emptiness to be perceived.

The people were filled, why bother with the few broken fragments of bread that were left? The people had already been attended to.

Even as Jesus is making us whole – feeding us and fixing the “problem” – there are still broken pieces left behind. Jesus wants us to gather those broken pieces. They are not to be rendered useless or to cause a perception of emptiness.

There is use for the broken pieces – those broken pieces are a large part of who we are and who we are becoming. Sometimes, I believe, we get stuck focusing on the broken pieces – and we experience such a feeling of lost – the what if’s and the regret.

Jesus wants us to understand that there need not be a feeling of loss. We have been fed and filled and now we can gather up those broken fragments -they are valuable and important – there is to be no loss! He will use all things for our good and for His glory. He will restore the years that the locust has eaten! In Psalm 56:8 the Psalmist declares that God has gathered all his tears in a bottle.

We all have broken pieces. In the past I have been tempted to wipe them all aside, disregard them or even worse look at them with disdain. But, if God is even gathering my tears, then how can I look down on the broken pieces that are evidence of the feeding and the filling?

Those broken pieces are an important piece of who we are and where we are going.

What broken pieces do you need to gather up today? The word for gather here is synago, which means to join together in one those previously separated. There is no need to separate yourself from where you’ve been. Where you’ve been is an important part of the story of where you met Jesus and how far He has bought you! The Bible says not to despise small beginnings.

Are you ready to gather the broken pieces today?