The Leftovers
By Shauna Leis
“Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”
Ephesians 6:6-8
My family thrives on leftovers. With such a busy life (church, ministries, jobs, schools, sports, and more), during the week, there is typically not enough time to fix a meal from scratch so I fix larger batches of things on the weekend that will yield leftovers throughout the week. Then, I just add in new things with the leftovers so we do not get bored with the same meal from day to day. And as we near the holidays, leftovers become even more important as the days get more and more hectic from all of the activities. And the leftovers get more and more yummy, too!
But there are times when those leftovers get really old to all of us, and what we want is just a good, home-cooked meal, fresh from the stove. Or even worse those leftovers sitting in the refrigerator have finally taken a turn for the worse. You know what I am talking about when you pull the plastic ware out of the refrigerator, and no one can identify the mystery substance!
While I was thinking about this, God really began to convict me about emotional and spiritual leftovers. How often do we really give God and our families the “firsts” in our lives? Or are we more prone to giving everything else in our lives the firsts, and our families and God get whatever is left over? I will be the first to admit to you that I have been so guilty of the latter and not the former. For so long, my career was incredibly important to me. I longed to be in positions of power and prestige with my work, to be recognized for my talents. And, so I began to sacrifice all of the other things in my life that were actually really important.
My work began to consume me, and I stayed incredibly long hours at my job and traveled all over the U.S. and the world. Then, when I would finally get home to see my husband, and at that time our young son, there was very little leftover for them. Sadly there was definitely nothing leftover for God after my family. All of me was spent on other things, and life very quickly began to fall apart around me. I sank into a pit as I began to realize that the leftovers I had been serving to God and to my family were so incredibly spoiled that there was no way to even recognize what they had started out to be in the first place. Oh, my conviction was great, and I poured out my confession to God about how I had been dishonoring Him and my family.
And so began the slow climb out of the pit and back into His loving arms. During this time, God hammered Psalm 103:8-12 into my heart. “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” God impressed upon me that He was very willing to take away all my sin since I had repented and totally turned from my ways. As far as the east is from the west is as far as He removed the sin for my life.
God also reminded me that He had not given me the leftovers, either. Rather, He gave me the First Born over all creation to be my Savior and Lord. John 3:16 reminds us very clearly of the gift that we were given so many years ago. It was God’s only Son who was given for the forgiveness of our sins…Not a substitute…Not an afterthought…And certainly not a leftover. It was a deliberate choice to send Jesus Christ into this world to die on the cross for you and for me.
So, what about you? Are you giving God and your family the leftovers right now? My life was completely changed when I decided to make God first, family second, and everything else a very distant third. I start each and every day now with a commitment to God, and I have taken a new job that does not require as much of me along the way. That way there is so much more time to spend basking in God’s Word and loving on my precious family that so needs its wife and mom. Do you want to make this commitment as well? Do you want to honor God and your family by making them first?
Pray with me: Almighty God, we are so convicted about giving You and our families the leftovers. We confess that we have not put You first in our hearts and in our lives. We long for You to take control of all that we are and that we can be. God, You gave us Your One and Only Son, who was certainly not a leftover – He was the most precious gift over all of creation. He was part of You! Lord, we did not deserve You, but You came willingly to forgive us of our sins. God, we cling to You and Your promises. No longer will we give You our leftovers, but we promise to make You first in all that we do. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen!