The story of the lad who gave up two dried fish from his lunch may not make much sense to us in modern times.  Tearing up bread makes sense, but what about fish.

Mark 6:38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

Two Dried Fish

The story of the lad who gave up two dried fish from his lunch may not make much sense to us in modern times.  Tearing up bread makes sense, but what about fish.  The fish of this time was likely salted cured and dried to preserve it, especially for long desert journeys such as this.  Magdala, the place that Mary Magdalene likely lived, was the center of the dried fish industry at this time.  Tearing up and eating salted dried fish is like taking beef jerky on a missions trip for us.  When fish is dried like this, it can last for many years. Who knows how old these two dried fish where that little boy had in his lunch bucket?  They may have been sitting around on the shelf for years before they were used of the Lord.  They had to be caught, die, be salted and then dried in the open air for many days before they could be stored and ready for the Lord to use.

Prepared For The Day

Those two fish were prepared for the day the Lord used them.  They likely did not know they would be the ones to be used in a miracle.  There were many other fish caught and prepared at the same day as them.  As servants of the Lord, we are prepared for a task that we often do not know about down the road.  I once attended a Bible Institute at a small local church in order to be prepared for what the Lord would have me to do.  Maybe you prepared for a ministry down the road that you do not know may happen.  Like these fish, they were preserved with salt to give them a long shelf life.  We are preserved as saints of God for heaven.  The salt that is in us helps give flavor to the gospel we are to preach.  Fish needs to have salt so it taste good.  We need salt to taste good when the Lord uses us.  The fish is dried to remove all moisture.  We are dried to remove sin from us so we can be used of the Lord.  Like those two dried fish, we need to be ready for the Lord to use us at any time.  It may be a long time down the road.  Will you be patient to wait for the Lord’s timing.