Janice Nicholls was a regular feature of Thank Your Lucky Stars, and the Spin-a-Disc section, where a guest DJ and three teenagers reviewed three singles, is a very well-remembered feature of the show. It was on this section that Janice Nicholls appeared. She was a former office clerk from the Midlands who became famous for the catchphrase “Oi’ll give it foive” (yes that’s how it was spelt) which she said with a strong Black Country accent.**
Catapulted to stardom you might say, which reminds me of an event which catapulted a young boy to stardom, well at least to be talked about for over two thousand years.
We are not told his name, where he lived, but simply he woke up that morning to an ordinary day which would, in fact, turn out be an extraordinary day.
You see he went to hear Jesus, which is always a good place to start. By evening everybody was hungry and this boy had a pre-packed lunch packed by his mum which contained five loves of bread and two fish. Here he was just about to tuck in when Andrew (one of Jesus disciples) asked the boy fancy sharing your lunch with five thousand people. Yes, the boy said ‘I’ll give it five’.
That boy turned an ordinary day into an extraordinary day and would go down in history, but you know there is more to it. This boy demonstrated the following.
- A willingness to give. I talked on that yesterday about living in these different times and giving by your tithing. This boy gave his lunch.
- A willingness to share. In these different times, we live in there has been much panic buying which really says make sure I have enough. Not this boy. He was willing to make sure everybody had a share.
- A faith to say here I only have five loaves but Andrew if you say Jesus can do something with it, then here you are. I believe the words Jesus had been speaking touched this young boy’s heart. You say what proof Jesus touched this young boy. I give you the actions of this hungry young boy.
You see Jesus had earlier asked Philip the same question. Philip was a pessimist. How can we feed all this lot? Andrew was an optimist, well perhaps if I find someone Jesus may be able to do something, let’s have a walk around and see if anybody has something Jesus can use.
Jesus fed five thousand and enough for second and thirds. The crowd came back the next day looking for Jesus because of the miracle the previous day. All because a boy was willing.
May I encourage you today in these different times to keep on doing what followers of Jesus have always done by repeating this young boy’s action? No! We may not go down in history, but we can give it five.
Finally just a thought. I wonder when this young boy went home and said mam, you know that packed lunch you gave me, yes, well it fed five thousand people today. I hope his mam didn’t say stop making things up or even worse don’t tell exaggerated stories. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the boy recounted his story. You know one day Jesus is going to recount our story and give us rewards for those things we have done, so come on ‘give it five’
Stay safe and Blessed
** extract taken from YouTube (https://youtu.be/JnNHPb6GITQ)