LEFTOVERS
Are They Being Wasted?
~ He is the God Who salvages all things and allows nothing to go to waste ~
January 27th, 2023
DEEP
Romans 2:4, ‘Do the riches of His extraordinary kindness make you take Him for granted and despise Him? Haven’t you experienced how kind and understanding He has been toward you? Don’t mistake His tolerance for acceptance. Do you realize that all the wealth of His extravagant kindness is meant to melt your heart into repentance?’ (TPT)
Or in other versions, Romans 2:4b reminds us that ‘the lovingkindness of God leads us to repentance’. That is picturesque. You can almost see the brokenhearted, the crushed in spirit, the addicted, the lost, the unlovely, the one farthest from God, being drawn to His bosom because of His vast forbearance and goodness, His extravagant kindness. And then the contrition and remorse come. The tears come. The hopeless replaced by the hopeful. One act—the act of forgiveness—counteracting everything before and everything thereafter. What a gift to be given. What a gift to receive.
But many don’t. Ever receive it. The greatest act ever done, the greatest gift ever given, to be rejected by many. Why is that? Well, some think it is too farfetched. Too good to be true. They would rather spurn it is false teaching, erroneous authenticity, and gamble their eternity, than humble themselves and take a chance it is truth, so they are not left behind. Now, this is a leftover wasted, spoiled, rotted, garbage.
Some never have heard (yet) of the great love of God for the humanity He dreamt into being. In my smallmindedness, as I watch our world collapse, as our sin and the evil pervading society matriculates, I want Jesus to come back NOW, to come rescue us, to get us and take us Home. But were He to do that before His impeccable timing ticks off the clock, then who would be left over? My neighbors? Yours? Some of our family members? Maybe even people you sit next to in church or work next to at your job.
But then, some never know they are worth it. That is one of the passions God has purposed in me, is to let others know how worth it they are. That is picturesque also. To see the dawning flood across one’s face, to spill from their eyes, the sudden knowledge that eats their hearts and unbelief, and says, ‘Wow! I’m worth it? Really? Wow! I am worth it! I am more than enough!’ That is when the lovingkindness of God paves a path to repentance and then forgiveness. When the hardness of someone’s heart dares to look even deeper inside to revel in the worth God reveals. There are leftovers immediately salvaged, never wasted—worth, merit, value, importance.
You’ve heard said, ‘Don’t mistake my kindness as weakness.’ And that’s what God is saying in this passage. It is a caution. Let His kindness lead you someplace beneficial and everlasting for your destiny. Let it lead you to repentance. To redemption. To forgiveness. To eternal life.
John 6:12-13, ‘When the people had eaten their fill, He said to His disciples, “Gather the LEFTOVERS so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with LEFTOVERS from the barley loaves.’ (MSG)
