Spiritual Theme: Nothing Be Wasted

My apologies to Pastor Ben at Faith Alive for not posting the last few months’ spiritual themes. He’s been faithful to send me pages of explanations about each theme, but I’ve fallen behind condensing them into one or two paragraphs for this blog. Apologies aside, here is June’s theme based on John 6:12: “When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’”

You’ve probably heard of the story of Jesus taking a little boy’s few loaves and fish and multiplying them into enough food for thousands of people. But did you ever think about the value of the leftovers? Pastor Ben says, “I know of many loaves and fish elsewhere that got eaten by goats and dogs or destroyed by fungi. But why are these so special that even their pieces are not to be wasted but preserved? It was because they were surrendered to Jesus to be used by him in meeting the needs of people. They were used to demonstrate the power of God. They were used to give life to the dying people, and they were used to bring glory to God. Thanks went to God on their account and they were blessed by Jesus. So they were no more ordinary bread and fish. They were made sanctified and consecrated and so could not be treated any how…these were preserved for future generations.

“So it is with our life’s resources. If we surrender them to God to serve and be used by Him for His glory, we will not be wasted, as he will use us to serve his purposes and still preserve our leftovers for future use. It is then we receive protection, get more useful and our work can outlive us. Anything less is a wasted life…So gather your leftovers; someone out there may need them to survive.”