I’ve never shied away from leftovers…as a matter of fact, I consider myself the ‘leftover king’ in my house. I’m known to eat leftovers until they’re all gone, while my wife can only eat the same thing for a couple of days, and then she’s done with it.
Most people don’t like to eat or take what others have already picked over…it seems that you’re getting what no one else wants. Whether it’s racks of clothes at Burlington’s or turkey pieces days after Thanksgiving, leftovers are not much desired.
God spoke to the prophet Malachi about the same thing; the Israelites were offering defiled food on God’s altar (Malachi 1:6 – 14). What was the defiled food? It was blind, lame, and sick animals that no one wanted, so they decided to simply offer them to the Lord. They had the ‘something is better than nothing’ attitude.
That got God’s attention, and He expressed His disdain for such offerings. Now, those were offerings of dead animals, but today we offer to God in the form of our time, talent, and our treasure. And just as the requirement was back then, it’s still the same today. That we should offer to God our very best in every area of our lives, not our leftovers.
As a matter of fact, you and I are called ‘living sacrifices’, unlike the dead sacrifices that were offered to God in the Old Testament. As living sacrifices we’re actually living while we’re dead…we’re dead to ourselves. Though we’re not offering dead animals to God anymore, we are offering Him something much more important, our lives.
But the offering of blemished sacrifices decreases the holiness of God, and lifts up our sin as if it’s acceptable. And from everything we see in scripture, God is never pleased with that…He doesn’t want our leftovers…he wants our best.
So, here’s the thing that I want you to takeaway as you start off the new year and set your priorities in place…give God the very best of your life, this is how you honor Him. In verse 6 of Malachi chapter 1, God says that He deserves honor. And offering anything that is less than our best, is a dishonor to Him, it’s a leftover.
How do we give God our best? Good question, but it can be summed up in three areas: we give God our best in terms of cost, quality, and priority. Here’s a question to ask of yourself…am I valuing my life with what God values? Do my priorities (time, money, and efforts) reflect the things that matter most to God?
And if you answer either of those questions with a ‘no’, then go to the Lord and ask for His direction over your life, and He will show you and confirm to you what needs to change in order for Him to be the priority in your life, and not a leftover.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and be blessed!