It was a massive breakfast. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, the works! Gulping it down, I noticed there was one piece of toast left that I couldn’t possibly eat. I felt guilty leaving the delicious sourdough to go to waste, but it was only one slice of bread, right? What did it matter? The server noticed it sitting there and asked if I wanted it “to go”. I told her I didn’t want to waste it, but honestly, I was too embarrassed to ask her to wrap it up. She said, “No problem, people bring home all sorts of scraps for their dogs”. I didn’t want to tell her I don’t have a dog.
Later on, I was reminded of the story in the Bible when Jesus multiplied the 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed the 5000. It tells us in John 6:12 that “After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” It tells us that they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers! Hmmm…12 baskets, 12 disciples? Probably not a coincidence. I wondered what they did with the leftovers. Did they carry the baskets around with them as they walked with Jesus? They didn’t have refrigerators. What did they do with all of it? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I do think it’s noteworthy that Jesus didn’t want any scraps left behind.
That’s true of people too. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” 1 He’s the Good Shepherd that leaves the 99 to search for the 1 that wandered off. (Matthew 18:12)
No matter how you feel at the moment, no matter what you may have done, or how far you may have wandered from Him, no one is a scrap, a leftover, or insignificant. All are valuable in His sight and worth saving.
He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 From the person at the top of society to the poor soul laying in the gutter – that means all of us. He sees, He cares. Shouldn’t we?
“In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish”
Matthew 18:14 (NLT)
Oh Lord, help us to have compassion and pick up the “leftovers” in this world. May there be no one left behind.
By the way, in case you were wondering…The next day, I popped the leftover toast into my toaster for a few seconds and smeared on some lemon curd. It was delicious!
1 Luke 19:10
2 2 Peter 3:9b
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