But God....was using books yesterday to teach me the importance of the wise use of leftovers.
We don't give God our leftovers, but when we give Him of our firstfruits there is always an abundance of blessing to pass on to others.
God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, NRSV)
Claudia Parlow, former BSF teaching leader, would often share teaching tips with me. As I shared in all the pages of prep work I had written in order to teach a mere 30 minutes, she would comment, "Those leftovers are just for you, Dotsy."
When Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, they all ate and were satisfied but the disciples picked up the fragments (broken pieces) of leftovers. (Matthew 14:20)
As the story is told by John 6:12, we see that the disciples were instructed by the Lord to "Gather up the leftover fragments that none may be lost."
The disciples had done the work and the leftovers were reminders to them of the lesson the Lord had just for them. Lessons of trust and obedience coupled with service to others.
Claudia's lesson for me from that analogy was---"nothing is lost when I "feed others" the truth from God's word." It's just that the parts that I prepared and didn't use because of time constraints, were leftovers just for me. 12 pages, of my very own "bread," were my personal lessons from the Lord.
Claudia's teaching from the past has me remembering to Choose: Leftovers---as I don't want anything to be lost or wasted that I might pass on to others even long after I am gone, especially loved ones.
