Leftovers

Leftovers. They can be a burden and a blessing. We try to figure out what to keep, what not to keep, how we can enjoy it again and who’s going to get what. They are tricky, icky and sometimes sticky. Like leftover emotions and actions that come because of something we’ve done or not done, they too can be sticky, icky and tricky. Sometimes those leftovers can bless and sometimes they can be a burden, but regardless God can use them if we allow Him to. Let’s look at how God used food as a powerful tool to show his power to feed the hungry physically and spiritually.
    
We need food to live and thrive, it’s a fact, everything living needs food to survive, and we need it to give us energy to do daily tasks. It’s amazing how God can use something so insignificant to get our attention. When God delivered His chosen people the Israelites, they were wandering in the desert for 40 years and during that time they became hungry. These people weren’t just a small group, it was a whole country, said to be around hundreds of thousands if not one million strong of people and there were no drive-thrus back then. But God had a plan to get the people to trust in Him. “And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord. Genesis 16:3-8.” They murmured against God even though He was going to provide they still murmured and complained. God heard them. God had a special way He was going to provide for them and told Moses and Moses would in turn tell the people. “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” God gave them manna and quail to satisfy their gnawing appetites. God gave Moses instruction on how to gather the manna and what to do.  “This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.”  An omer from some research is about 9 quarts. Moses specifically told them how much to get and NOT to let it sit around and wait to get it in the morning. Let’s see what happened, “Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.” Of course, like children they didn’t try their boundaries and it cost them. We do that too with God, we try boundaries, we push and push and then get mad at the consequences. When God told them no leftovers, He had his reasons.  So, after that let’s see what happened. “And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.” Moses told the people to get extra on the sixth day because on the seventh day was the sabbath, the day of rest and there will be no more so don’t eat all of it in one sitting. But you know how people are, they just gotta keep pushing those buttons! “And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” Imagine that. God being true to His word. “And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? Exodus 16:12-28.” Just like us there are things we enjoy as leftovers and some things we just must throw out, the difference is knowing why and the spoilage factor. There are things in our life that we are to enjoy for a season, whether it be things we did in our youth or something temporary that God has blessed us with the ability to do or be a part in, but then if we do it again or continue in it too long, it spoils, it becomes rotten and no good to us and it may even hurt us. Like when you see an athlete coming out of retirement and they are not as good as they were in their prime and it hurts to see them behind. There are things we’ve done in our youth that were meant to stay there and not as leftover to be picked up later. Just as Paul said, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11.” There are times to box up the glory days and let them be in our memories for stories in the generations to come. That doesn’t mean we have to be a stick in the mud but that we let ourselves grow and mature in Christ and find the things of God more pleasurable than the things of this world.  

Talk about a miracle, here was one. “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.” Again, no drive thrus. I’m sure the disciples went around asking people, “Food, do you have any food?” Since people left their cities and came to an out of the way place, not many people brought food to an impromptu revival service. One boy, however, had a little bit. “And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me.” There are over 5000 people in this spot listening to Jesus. He has five loaves of bread and two fish. Granted, we are told the size of the fish, but other gospel accounts say they were small (there went that fish story). So, we’ve got two small fish and five loaves of bread enough for a few people maybe but not a few thousand people. But with God nothing is impossible. “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 14:13-21.” Talk about a miracle with a doggy bag! Jesus had provided leftovers! He proved His awesome ability to take care of people—physically and spiritually but sadly people wanted the leftovers and not the main course. “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” Many people want the benefits of God without serving Him. They want their cake and to eat it too, or they want their dessert before the entrée. “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. These guys were looking to get Jesus to make all their wishes and wants come true, but they didn’t want the good news that He spoke of. They still focused on their physical needs when Jesus was there for their spiritual well-being. They had to bring up Moses and the manna, that wonderful food that God gave them to eat and provided. “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” Moses wasn’t responsible for that bread from heaven. He didn’t go up into the sky and come back with baskets of manna or making it rain manna from his hands. God made it do that. Moses was just the messenger, yet they focused more on him than the God that Moses worshipped. Jesus tells them, “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:26-35.” They wanted that bread of life that never spoils, never leaves people hungry and never causes people to get thirsty again. You can’t find this on the store shelves and no Tupperware will fit it (whether you have the matching lid or not). The only thing that will fit the living bread and living water is your heart and allowing Jesus to come in and satisfy you fully, leaving you appeased and ready to face the day. Jesus is there with you once you accept Him. He is there willing, ready and able, He is just waiting on you to give up on yourself and totally depend on Him. That doesn’t mean we need to give up eating, breathing, or sleeping but we need to give God priority number one in our life not just give Him the leftovers. This woman didn’t know her whole life was about to be changed because she went to get water and found the Savior instead, “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. John 4:10-15.” Many of us are like this woman, ready for that living water, ready for that bread of life and willingly let God into our heart and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior but as time goes on we tend to fill our lives with empty sweets that we put more importance on than God but when He is needed, you best bet we go back into our lives, pull out a prayer and read a scripture hoping that the Tupperware in our heart still holds the seal. Good news is that once we are saved, that seal is fine, nothing can spoil it, but pushing Jesus back into the back of the coldness of heart doesn’t help our lives or enrich it in any way. Just like you can say, “I have leftovers of filet minion in my fridge.” That’s great but if it spoils, it’s just now some trash. You’ve got to use what God gives you and not save them for another day.

God provides for us even when we fail to provide for ourselves. Elijah was a man of God who found himself alone listening to the command of God; “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” Elijah could’ve said no way. He could’ve stayed at home in his bed or anything else for that matter. He didn’t have to go out by the river just to drink out of it and be fed by birds. He could’ve had a normal life. But he wouldn’t see the glory of God working through him, so he had a choice to make. As do we, each and every day. We have that choice to make, will we serve God even when it inconveniences us or will we just serve God with what we have left at the end of the day? Elijah made his choice. “So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.” God provided for Elijah, just like He provided the Israelites and He will provide for us too, but it may take some give on our part and taking on the will of God. Sounds like God was messing with Elijah, but God always has a greater plan even in the midst of drought and famine. “And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” My heart always went out to this widow woman. She is out there doing the best she can and here comes this guy who tells her bring her a bread and some water while this woman is gathering sticks to bread and bake so that her and her son can have one last meal together. She was going to use the sticks! She had just enough meal and oil to finish off this one last task. No leftovers for another day, just to sit and wait and starve. The drought was bad and put a hurt on many people. But Elijah told her, “And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.  For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.” Elijah told her some powerful words, that after he was made a cake and then her and her son that God would provide. The meal and oil would never stop until there was rain. She had a decision to make; serve her stomach or serve God. She could listen to the man and hope his words were true and she would have leftovers, or she could listen to her gnawing stomach and have her last meal. She made her choice and chose God as the priority; “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:3-16.” Sometimes serving God may go against our better judgement and even our common sense but God KNOWS what is best for us. He knows that if we make Him a priority, He will bless our lives with majority and make other things of the world a minority.
    
Jesus was sent into the land of the Israelites who feared God, whereas the Gentiles (those who weren’t Jewish/Israelites) were worshipping idols and false gods continually. Most of the time the Gentiles just wanted the physical benefits of Jesus’ too, the healings and all that and not take Jesus seriously.  This woman wanted Jesus but curiously, Jesus ignored her; “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.” This woman acknowledged who Jesus was. Jesus tells her why He is here and said it wasn’t fair. “But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Remember that Gentiles worshipped false gods, and many refused to acknowledge God Almighty as the one and only God. So, it would be a waste for Jesus’ to do fill this woman’s request only for her to go back and serve other gods and do a disservice to her family. Jesus didn’t want the leftovers, He wanted all or nothing. She answered Jesus, “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” She knew what Jesus was saying and said agreed but that the others are still blessed by what God can do for the chosen. “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matthew 15:22-28.” This woman at first wanted just the physical healing for her daughter. She would do anything, including worship something she didn’t totally put her faith in. But once she talked with Jesus and showed that her faith was true (to herself and to others), Jesus praised her faith and insight! Her request was granted, and the girl was made whole.
    
We don’t save crumbs, we’d rather sweep them off the floor, but something benefits whether it be your pet or bacteria, something is there waiting for our throwaways. It could be something bigger than crumbs, if we don’t spend time with our kids, chances are the devil will find some temptation to take them away. If we don’t spend time with our spouse, there is someone or something there waiting. If we don’t spend time with God the devil will make sure to put something in that place to gain our interest and we find ourselves stuck, messy, and unsure of what happened because we didn’t take care of the time we were given. We spent too much on our wants and our needs to show our love and care to others. We didn’t consider that the leftovers would benefit someone else more and be used in such a fashion. We need to make sure that everything God gives us we leave nothing wasted, just like the manna that spoiled after being left out a night. We may run with our blessing and serve our fleshly desires which is something God hates and detests. Why would you do that? Why would you take the best that God has given you to waste away in such a manner? It’d be like cooking a beautiful dinner only to feed it to the dog, the dog sure enjoyed it, but think of all the other people who could have it as well!  Jesus gives us this example which fits so many things in our life. Maybe you’ve been in this guy’s shoes before, or you are wearing them now. “And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.” The son was going to get the portion and got what he wanted. He had many choices he could’ve made with the money—good choices but like most of us, we tend to run to the first bad choice, thinking it will help us in life. “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” He was partying his life away and that money and popularity wouldn’t last long. “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.” Not only was he broke, but there was no food in the area, no left overs for him! “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” Talk about a downgrade in popularity and humility! “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.” He was so hungry he could’ve eaten the pig slop. He went from Mr. Popular to Mr. Poor very quickly! He had it all at one time but blew it all because it made him feel good. But there comes a time when we must stop and realize what we are doing and who we are serving. “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Physical hunger is bad, but nothing like spiritual hunger to be loved, accepted, and cared for and God can provide all that and actually HAS provided all that, it is up to us to accept that as fact and ask God into our hearts. God will want us to rearrange our priorities. It won’t be easy. We’ll have to find some humility, drop some pride and be ready for His will. This guy was ready; “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15:11-20” Maybe you feel like that son, you love God but you’ve wandered far looking for the stuff of the world to satisfy you but it will never fill a God shaped hole. You cannot fill a spiritual appetite with the food of the world, you will starve. God loves you and wants you back, are you satisfied with serving God with your leftovers or do you want to follow Him with your whole being?  As the scripture tells us, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24.” Amen! We shouldn’t just praise God when it’s convenient for us or when things go right, those are just leftovers. We should praise God in the hard times, the good times, we should serve God when it’s uncomfortable and when it’s messy! God will look after us and help us, even when we can’t help ourselves. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalms 23:5-6.” Let your body and spirit be filled with God and be satisfied with the taste of the blessings of God. “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalms 34:8.” Do you trust and obey or are you saving that for another day?