Dr. Tommy Boland, pastor of Cross Community Church in Deerfield, FL ( a church plant of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, shared these thoughts about “leftovers” at goodnewsfl.org on November 15, 2023.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I have already begun thinking about all the leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal that always seem to taste even better than they did on the day of the big feast. I don’t know how God does it, but the Thanksgiving leftovers seem to taste better and better over the next few days.
Now, as much as I love those leftovers, if Jesus were stopping by, I wouldn’t open the fridge, take out a few plastic containers and “nuke” some leftovers from our Thanksgiving meal. I’d want to give Him our best, prepared with love and care.
Yet there are too many times in my relationship with Jesus when, instead of giving Him my best, I give Him the rest – I give Him my leftovers. Here is a powerful reminder from the prophet Malachi that can strengthen our resolve to keep the rest and always give Jesus our best.
“When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?” – says the Lord Almighty (Malachi 1:8-9).
Instead of bringing God the best animals from their flocks and herds, the Israelites were giving God what they didn’t really care about – the rest, the leftovers. While they were technically obeying the Law by bringing God his offerings and “worshipping” God, they were keeping the best for themselves and giving God what they did not want: animals that were crippled or diseased. The bitter truth is that the people of God were worshipping themselves. They put themselves first and God second.
…God will tolerate no rival, nor should He. We are to put God first and give Him the best of all we have to offer. We are to give God the best of our time, the best of our talent and the best of our treasure. And if we are consistently asking God to be seated on the throne of our lives, that is exactly what we will do.
…As you inspect the altar of your life, do you see any injured, crippled or diseased offerings of your time, talent or treasure that you are giving to Jesus out of convenience or complacency? Remember, Jesus gave us His very best by offering Himself through His sinless life, sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection. How can we do anything less than to respond with full, thankful and open hearts mindful that there is no place for offering our leftovers to our Lord!
The Lord requires First Place in your life, not your leftovers. This applies not just to your finances (Treasure), but your entire life. Are you giving Him the best of your Time? Are you giving Him the best of your Talents, your abilities? Are you giving Him first place in your life – the driver’s seat – or is He just along for the ride? Do you only turn to Him in times of need? Or do you give Him all the praise and honor and adoration that He deserves? Give Him the Best, not just the rest!
This Sunday, August 4, we will continue our teaching series, “Living Right-side Up in an Upside-down World”, with the focus on “Unholy Worship!” from Malachi 1. Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday at 10:35am to both locations and would love to have you join us.Note: After the service, we will head for the beach for Water Baptism. If you have not yet experienced this essential step of obedience, please contact me this week.
Coming up: This Saturday, August 3, at 11:30am is the “Style Swap” for women and children! Bring a delicious fruit or veggie salad to add to the table and then get ready to take home some new-to-you clothes. Plus, our next “Drive-Through Prayer” outreach in the church parking lot is also that day from 11am-1pm.
Aloha ke Akua!
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