Leftovers Again?

I was thinking about a wonderful dish my son made the other day. It was seafood pasta and I was raving over it. The next night I ate a small portion again, and the next day I took it to work for lunch. So, by the third go around, somehow it wasn’t the same. It was still good, but there is something about a new fresh meal served right away. I was wishing I had brought something else. You do get tired of leftovers.

God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with enough manna for each day and told them not to eat the leftovers the next day. But did they listen? Did they trust Him for provision each day? Nope - they scooped it up anyhow.

And what did they discover? The leftover manna was no good. It had become rotten. 

"And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Then Moses said to them, 'No one is to keep any of it until morning.' However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them." Exodus 16:18-20 (NIV)

Do we come to God and give him our leftover time at the end of the day? God wants our worship and of course, he accepts our petitions, but He wants a heart that is pure and wholehearted in adoration to him.

When you were a child, you may have had a simple child’s prayer like, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep... " That was fine, but now a repetitious prayer is no longer sufficient to God.

God wants the first fruits of all we have. He wants our best in everything and He wants to be our first love. So, we cannot offer him our leftovers. In the Old Testament, God would not accept a blemished animal for a sacrifice, so He will not accept our half-hearted offering to Him today. (See Leviticus 22:20 and Deuteronomy 15:21)

He tells us his mercies are new and fresh every morning and even in our prayers we ask Him for our daily bread. So, why do we offer him anything less?  

When you think about having company over for dinner you get a plan and prepare a meal - you don’t get out the leftovers to serve.  Even our worship should be offered with our whole hearts, not just lip service. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, so He deserves quality time and dedication.

Somehow I feel there is no casual get together in the presence of the Lord. It is a holy and special moment every time we meet with Him. If we don’t honor Him and reverence Him, we just might not take our relationship seriously and begin to take Him for granted. And you know what happens then?

God gets the leftovers.

 Give us each day our daily bread. Luke 11:3 (NIV)

Father God, we don't want to give you our leftover time, finances, or passion. You deserve the best part of everything we have and produce. Please forgive us for those times we've been flippant or insincere in our worship or service to you. Change us through the undeserved blood of Jesus Christ and help us be the people you saved us to be.

Copyright © Cathy Irvin, used with permission