LEFTOVERS
Are They Being Wasted?
~ He is the God Who salvages all things and allows nothing to go to waste ~
January 30th, 2023
May I Have Seconds?
Psalm 23:5-6, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely, Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’ (NIV)
There are leftovers in a life with Christ. Our cup overflows. He gives us the overflow; what we do with the overflow, is up to us. Will it be wasted? Will it be squandered? Will it be useful? Fruitful? Profitable? God’s desire for His humanity is that we produce fruit; that we bear life, not death; that our treasure is profitable, laid up in heaven for His glory and someone else’s good. Too often, we blow too much worth. We misuse what is of great value and fritter away our chances and opportunities and, in general, life.
See it this way. Think back to your last meal, or maybe family dinner; how about Thanksgiving? How much food remained? How many leftovers? Did you package it up and save it for another meal? Did you regrettably snicker, ‘We don’t do leftovers.’ To be truthful, this is the first year, we picked as much meat off the turkey carcass as we could get and then boiled the bones for bone broth and turkey noodle soup. I typically am too tired after cooking most of the day what takes a dozen individuals twenty minutes to eat that my good intentions plan to put to good use and yet ends up in the garbage anyway. I am wasteful too often.
Now see it this way. What about that homeless man huddled on the corner of Hungry and Alone? What happens if you put a plateful of food in front of him? I bet he is no longer vegan or lactose intolerant. I bet he isn’t wondering if he has entered ketosis or researching a paleo diet. I also bet there is nothing left on his plate. He might even be hoping someone else left something behind of their meal. He’s not wasting one tidbit.
See, it is not often out of our lack that we waste. It is out of our overflow. We have a choice…what will we do with our leftovers? We are a wasteful people, but there is so much good that can come from the overflow of our cup. Furthermore, our Father desires so much good for His children, He sets a table laden with fine, satisfying, delectable, exceptional, excellent fare, in the presence of our enemies, where we can feast to our fill, to our heart’s contentedness, and even lick our fingers when we are finished, not wasting one little detail the enemy might have intended for our harm, but that Holy God is using for our fulfillment.
Psalm 23:1-3, ‘Yahweh is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough. He offers a resting place for me in His luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where He restores and revives my life.’ (TPT)
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)
