LEFTOVERS
Are They Being Wasted?
~ He is the God Who salvages all things and allows nothing to go to waste ~
January 6th, 2023
OH, WELL
John 4:11-15, ‘The woman replied, “But, sir, you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is very deep. So where do you find this ‘living water’? Do you really think that you are greater than our ancestor Jacob who dug this well and drank from it himself, along with his children and livestock?” Jesus answered, “If you drink from Jacob’s well, you’ll be thirsty again, but if anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never be thirsty again. For when you drink the water I give you, it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy spirit, flooding you with endless life!” The woman replied, “Let me drink that water so I’ll never be thirsty again and won’t have to come back here to draw water.”’ (TPT)
Not only is He the Bread of Life, but He also is the Living Water. He will not allow His children to go hungry nor to thirst. In this world, we often find ourselves at dry wells and eating from troughs filled with spoiled grub. It is damaging not only for our bodies, but especially for our souls, endlessly filling ourselves up with empty voids and pursuing desolate dead-ends.
I’ve hidden in my own share of abandoned places and turned toward many hollow and depleted reservoirs only to end up famished and alone. What the world has to offer often leaves us hungering for something else, searching for more, chasing a high never to be achieved, but always dangled elusively in front of us. There is an enemy of our souls whose promises are nothing more than broken lies. He will be the first one to do anything to harbor your fancies but he will leave you to drown in immersive, swirling consequences and aftermaths.
After finding myself at the bottom of too many empty bottles, feeding from rotten leftovers, I cried out to Jesus and He answered me! Not only did He rescue me from myself, but He also used all the waste for my good and His glory. Then He promised me: “Your life will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed life will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.” (Isaiah 58:11, MSG) He is a good, good God!
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)
