Day 218: Nothing Good Or Bad Is Ever Wasted - "Helki" The Lord Is My Portion
Read: Psalm 16, Isaiah 55:8 - 13
Waste not, want not! That was the wise counsel my Mom first gave me the
first time I can remember coming to the dinner table and many tables
after that. I was one of those ultra finicky eaters when I was a kid and
it was expected that if Mom worked hard in the kitchen to fix a meal
for her three very young children and husband after a long days work,
that everything would disappear off of our plates. Nothing would be thrown away. Dad used to try hard to set the example eating everything on his own
plate and making sure we children saw him do it. He went to the point
of holding up his plate to show us. Nothing ever wasted, well almost,
there were those leftovers. When are there not always leftovers?
Yes, there were those leftovers,
there were those small remnants of food that Mom always seemed to find a
way to keep for another day to make some casserole of one kind or
another. So, this memory got to me and I began to meditate on God and a
couple of passages from the Hebrew text and wondering if you would
consider along with me the question: Could anything good or bad ever be
wasted by God, like it has been wasted by man? 'The Lord is the portion
of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen
to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.' Whether Good, Bad, Indifferent the
Lord establishes all the boundaries of all my life circumstances.
I can guess that all of us have at one time or another looked at a given circumstance, tried something new, exciting and different just for the sake of doing
it. I can guess also that at one time or another, we have thought to
ourselves "How much more can I fit on my plate before I bust at the
seams?" Are we selling ourselves and any other person who will listen
that some particular thing of interest to us, that new ministry, while
sounding good in the beginning, is now "wasted effort in the kitchen"
because the end result were the children leaving too many leftovers at
the dining room table? And all of those wonderful casseroles Mom made - Yuck! The casseroles God makes? Well, I do not know if I tried one.
Legitimately so, sometimes efforts are complete wastes of time because
of our poor efforts at planning and implementing. We just have to try
harder in the kitchen. I am wondering about our efforts to testify
to God's goodness and love in our lives to one whose table and pantry
shelves are barren, in the hopes of making the perfect meal perfectly
balanced with equal portions of Father, Son and Holy Spirit from
Scripture. Are we too worried of mixing the wrong ingredients, looking at the wrong recipe and
then watch as the person walks away from or takes one look and never
approaches the table? What could God do with these 'wasted' efforts of
ours? (Isaiah 55:8 - 13) Well, it is something to pray about.
Let Us Pray: Today, I respectfully ask
that you prayerfully consider personalizing our text from the Hebrew
Scriptures. Personalize them to your own circumstances, your families and your churches. Take the time to make these Living Words your own. See for yourself what portion of His goodness the Lord is asking you to
prepare for His Kingdom table on earth as it has most assuredly been
prepared for us all in heaven.
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Psalm 16, Isaiah 55:8 - 13
Waste not, want not! That was the wise counsel my Mom first gave me the first time I can remember coming to the dinner table and many tables after that. I was one of those ultra finicky eaters when I was a kid and it was expected that if Mom worked hard in the kitchen to fix a meal for her three very young children and husband after a long days work, that everything would disappear off of our plates. Nothing would be thrown away. Dad used to try hard to set the example eating everything on his own
plate and making sure we children saw him do it. He went to the point of holding up his plate to show us. Nothing ever wasted, well almost, there were those leftovers. When are there not always leftovers?
Yes, there were those leftovers, there were those small remnants of food that Mom always seemed to find a way to keep for another day to make some casserole of one kind or another. So, this memory got to me and I began to meditate on God and a couple of passages from the Hebrew text and wondering if you would consider along with me the question: Could anything good or bad ever be wasted by God, like it has been wasted by man? 'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.' Whether Good, Bad, Indifferent the Lord establishes all the boundaries of all my life circumstances.
I can guess that all of us have at one time or another looked at a given circumstance, tried something new, exciting and different just for the sake of doing it. I can guess also that at one time or another, we have thought to ourselves "How much more can I fit on my plate before I bust at the seams?" Are we selling ourselves and any other person who will listen that some particular thing of interest to us, that new ministry, while sounding good in the beginning, is now "wasted effort in the kitchen" because the end result were the children leaving too many leftovers at the dining room table? And all of those wonderful casseroles Mom made - Yuck! The casseroles God makes? Well, I do not know if I tried one.
Legitimately so, sometimes efforts are complete wastes of time because of our poor efforts at planning and implementing. We just have to try harder in the kitchen. I am wondering about our efforts to testify to God's goodness and love in our lives to one whose table and pantry shelves are barren, in the hopes of making the perfect meal perfectly balanced with equal portions of Father, Son and Holy Spirit from Scripture. Are we too worried of mixing the wrong ingredients, looking at the wrong recipe and
then watch as the person walks away from or takes one look and never approaches the table? What could God do with these 'wasted' efforts of ours? (Isaiah 55:8 - 13) Well, it is something to pray about.
Let Us Pray: Today, I respectfully ask that you prayerfully consider personalizing our text from the Hebrew Scriptures. Personalize them to your own circumstances, your families and your churches. Take the time to make these Living Words your own. See for yourself what portion of His goodness the Lord is asking you to prepare for His Kingdom table on earth as it has most assuredly been prepared for us all in heaven.
http://www.youtube.com/
Jason Gray- Nothing Is Wasted (Official Lyric Video)
www.youtube.com
Jason Gray's lyric video for "Nothing Is Wasted" iTunes: http://bit.ly/ulLCW9 Facebook:
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