Wallflowers and Fish

Ever heard reference to wallflowers?  They are fragrant flower that blooms in spring, but are quite inconspicuous.

Not to insult the Andrew in the Bible, whose name means ‘manly’ or anyone else for that matter but he reminds me of a wallflower, in a good way.

Andrew caught my attention because he went about doing good in a quiet, unobtrusive way. He was one of the in group, one of the chosen ones to be one of Jesus’ closest disciples. But did he let it go to his head, did he juggle for a position of honor like some of the others that were even closer did? No, and I repeat, he just quietly went about doing good.

We hear so much about the little boy who brought his lunch to Jesus, but who sought him out? Andrew. Now Andrew couldn’t have been a loud, aggressive sort, I don’t think, but a kind, fatherly type. Why do I think this? Because he search among the masses until he saw a boy with a small lunch, a poor lunch and the boy wasn’t afraid to share his humble offering of dry, coarse bread and a couple fish with Andrew. Perhaps he knew Andrew from before. Perhaps his father was also a fisherman. Nevertheless this little lad trusted Andrew; trusted him not to make fun of his ‘inferior gift’ and gave him the courage to make his way through the huge crowd to talk to the highly respected teacher.

Now Andrew’ own insecurities came to the forefront when he said ‘what are they among so many?’ but he have a quiet, humble trust in Jesus…so Jesus did the rest.

We don’t have to be great important people. Maybe we can be a little more like Andrew and help others, I’m thinking mainly of lending a helping hand to children now, but it could apply to anyone.

Is there someone we can encourage to bring their ‘five barley loaves and two small fishes to Jesus?”