Who do you know that likes leftovers? When my family asks, “what’s for supper?” And I say “leftovers”, I get the deer in the headlight look, the cringe, the wrinkle in the nose…you know what I am talking about. If you are the cook in your household, sometimes leftovers just accumulate in the fridge. And because we don’t like to waste, we prepare them with care and a happy heart hoping our family won’t recognize them as leftovers!
What does God think of leftovers? I am not talking about the food kind of leftovers. I am referring to the leftovers of us! The leftovers of our time/energy, our prayers, our worship, and even our financial leftovers. I think there may be times when God cringes and wrinkles His nose. There are some days, I am sure, when it is at me. These are the days when my work and efforts don’t align with His. Or the days when I carry a bit of anger, bitterness, or resentment in my heart. The list could go on….
I don’t want to give God my leftovers. I want to give him my best.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.” Leviticus 23:9-10 NKJV
The Feast of Firstfruits required that the first crops harvested be offered to God. The remainder of the crop was theirs thus acknowledging God’s provision and faithfulness in providing for their needs. God never changes; this same faithfulness and provision is how he operates today. We should always begin with God, begin our life with God, begin our day with God, begin our work and business with God.
For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Romans 11:16-18 NKJV
Paul reminds us that Jesus came to save both the Jew and the Gentile. All people, all believers can be grafted into the family of Christ. As we walk in faith and cultivate our relationship with Jesus, we can partake of this richness of knowing Him. Paul also gives us the reminder that if we forgetful (or some might call this prideful), we should remember that we do not feed the root but the root feeds us. It is not our works, our ambitions, or actions but rather what Jesus did for us. It is because of his love and grace that He rains down on our life.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20
This is from the Old Testament command that the first harvest of a crop should be offered to God. As we read above from Leviticus 23:9-10, this command from God honors who He is and what he provides for us. He provides for us daily, He provides for our future, and He promises eternal life. Because Christ was the perfect sacrifice, the perfect offering (the firstfruit); we, as believers, can partake of everything He has to offer. Verse 21 and 22 of 1 Corinthians 15, goes on to say that because of Adam sin and death entered the world, but because of Christ’s resurrection all shall be made alive. Because Jesus is the firstfruit, shouldn’t we give Him our best? No leftovers!! He surely didn’t give us leftovers.
Jesus is the feast!!
Oh, dear friends, my heart overflows with thankfulness. I pray that upon waking each day, we live to give Him our best. I pray that we give Him the firstfruits of everything we are. Not that He needs what we have to give, but when we seek Him diligently and earnestly, He promises so much.
