We attended a party and before we headed home, my amiga gave us dinner left-overs from her daughter’s birthday party. In this part of the world, bringing home “BH” or “Sharon,” is customary, and a gesture of generosity on the part of the host. And so I happily received the bag, filled with lechon and other dishes.
Today, I cooked the lechon for lunch, and my kids’ eyes lit up as they saw the crunchified lechon left-over about to fill their tummies! As I look upon their happy eyes, I remember how even our loving Savior sees value in left-over food.
After feeding a multitude, Jesus asked His disciples to gather the left-overs. Turns out the disciples got a dozen big baskets full of food that can still satisfy the hunger of many more people!
“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” John 6:12
In the same way, God sees potential for goodness and the mirroring of His love through people who may think that they are worthless because most of their lives may have already been eaten up by sin.
And so we may think that we have already lost the potential to be good, but our Heavenly Father sees otherwise. In Jesus’ mind, in His heart, and in His hands, left-overs, rejects, and broken people like us can still have a good future if we will only surrender our lives to Him.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on John 6:5-14 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Have you even thought of yourself as broken and rejected? How do you feel knowing that the Lord sees potential even in those rejected by society and those who also reject themselves?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for seeing beyond my mistakes and failures. I love you above all, and please give me the grace to continue holding on to you and your words. Amen.