Leftovers…I Don’t Think So!
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
- Calvin Trillin
Leftovers are challenging and Thanksgiving leftovers, even more so. I personally prefer my own term of “left-ins”. To me, leftovers, implies that something has left or is over and done with. Left-ins is far more accurate, for they are left in our fridge way past any reasonable timeline, a cryogenic mishap that we mistakenly imagine de-thawing and resuscitating some day in the near future. They rest dormant in the deep, cold recesses, awaiting the EPA to declare the back of our fridge a Supersite candidate or for some brave soul like myself to suit up and dive in. Fortunately, during my years of “research” of this phenomenon, I’ve come up with a few guidelines to help determine the spoilage factor of any food item.
- If it covered with enough fuzz to knit a small sweater, it is spoiled.
- Anything that looks like cottage cheese but wasn’t before, is spoiled.
- Anything once solid but now a liquid, is spoiled (excluding ice), the
opposite is also true. - If you can tie a slip knot in a carrot, it is spoiled.
- If fruit looks mummified and from the tomb of the pharaohs, it is spoiled.
- Anything that requires a hacksaw to remove it; is spoiled.
I included my “research” above to start this post with a little humor but I have something serious to ask…
Do you feel like a leftover? Do you feel…spoiled?
You see, I started to feel that way this past week, even though it was a great week. I didn’t realize until I found some time today to write and God told me to listen to something…one of my past sermons called “Spoken For”. It may seem strange but there was a message in my message for me…I left something far too long in the cold, dark part of my heart…and it needed to come out. I needed to remember that I was spoken for.
When we believe whole heartily that we are spoken for, we can say to the enemy of our soul, when he comes to rob, steal and destroy…move along…we’re spoken for.
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
It’s God’s words that determine the “abundance” of our lives, not society’s words, not the enemy’s words, and not the words of our past. His words alone define our value.
When we sin, when we are worried, when we doubt, when we are afraid…we are no less valuable to God.
And that’s what I want to share with you…there are no leftovers in the Father’s house, only valuable sons and daughters. I’m going to ask you to listen to the sermon (here, just click on Spoken For in the sermon player), please believe me when I say that this isn’t a plug but just me being obedient. I do feel an urgent cry of the Father’s heart for someone who feels like a spoiled leftover…someone who needs to hear they are spoken for, they are chosen, they are wanted.
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you”
John 15:16
We are spoken for, our hearts are His, our lives are not our own, everything we are belongs to Him. We are chosen, set apart and established…for our benefit and for His glory.
Blessings, Jay
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