Left-Over Faith

A Piece of Chocolate Week 16, 12-26-07 Left-Over Faith Dear Chocolates, Did you enjoy your Christmas celebrations? Did you reminisce to your loved ones about Christmas’s past? Were your appetites fulfilled? Writing about food makes me think of a time when I was a kid and Mom was telling my sisters and I, once again, that we were going to eat chipped beef on toast. If you’ve never had it before, let me explain…first you make a nasty, white pasty gravy. Then, you cook up some chipped beef (barf), and lastly you throw it on a piece of toast, drowning it to death with the sauce. Now, most of you know that I don’t do gravy…at all…especially white (blah). It’s too bad that the perfectly good toast was ruined. It’s not a complicated dish and it’s extremely easy to make. But the worst part of it all was…left-overs. Years later, just after I got married, my Hubbylove kept wondering why we weren’t eating left-overs. Well, I think I owe my “left-over” fear to chipped beef on toast. Sorry Mom. I should mention that now as a mom I value having left-overs since my job as “toddler disaster- prevention specialist” is proving to kick my tush. Matthew 14:13-21 is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Here‘s what happened. Jesus had just been told that one of his closest friends, John the Baptist, had just been killed. Jesus, understandably, boarded a boat to a remote area to have some alone time. Unfortunately, people heard where Jesus was going and “As he stepped from the boat, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Talk about a possible mood swing! The disciples went to Jesus and said “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary- you feed them.” Here is my interpretation of Matthew 14:17...But, but, but, Jesus, there’s not enough food…(whine, whine, whine). It sounds to me like they were running their faith on left-overs. As a mom I can hear myself saying, “now come on boys! What’s the problem? I’ve been cooking, cleaning, playing Attack of the Great Mom with you, and you’re telling me that you can’t pick up your toys? You just hush up and get on moving.” Here’s what verse 17 actually is: “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered. Jesus had just been rejected at Nazareth, heard that his friend had been beheaded, and as if that wasn’t enough, he now had to teach a bunch of grown men a lesson, and be responsible for feeding 5000 people-minimum! And their whining about not having enough?! Pllleaze. The Lord was indeed good and all of the people got fed. Jesus never gave his left-overs to anyone. Am I giving him my left-over faith? Are you? Left-overs. I have to admit that during the pre-Christmas weekend, I didn’t spend much time with the Lord and I didn’t read much of His Word. Maybe I was too busy playing Nurse Mommy to my ill little boy, or maybe I thought that since it’s Christmas, that my thinking of Him was enough. I guess I did give him my left-overs. What if God decided to give to me in proportion to what I give him? This isn’t supposed to be a guilt trip. It’s meant to be a blessing. See, regardless of what left-over faith we give him, He will always out give us. He loves us. That’s the message of Christmas. He gave up is heavenly home for a time, to be our dwelling gift. So be encouraged! He will always out give us, out love us, out bless us beyond what our own eyes can see or beyond what our small minds can fathom. Let’s attempt to give ourselves completely to him, not just our left-overs. Your verse to meditate on is Matthew 14:15-17 May God bless you all during this last week of 2007 and I pray that your lives will be full of triumphant victory in 2008! Love, Dede