Volume IV #32, Nov. 27, 2005

Leftovers

Written By Christopher Mentzer

This past Thursday thousands of families all across the country celebrated Thanksgiving with a big meal. After concluding the meal always comes leftovers. Enough food, usually, to last one through to Christmas. Although not as good as the first meal, people come up with many different ways to serve these leftovers to make them almost as good as the first.

People treat their service to God in the form of leftovers. Rather than offer the firstfruits of their service and personal means, they offer the remains and attempt to disguise them as firstfruits.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi confronted the same problem. In chapter 1: 6-14, Malachi writes concerning the offering of blemished animals for the sacrifice and defiled food on the altar. ‘Defiled’ does not have to mean stale or moldy but food that hasn’t been prepared properly. Much like Nadab and Abihu’s offering of strange fire upon the altar of the Lord in Lev. 10: 1-2, the bread offering was polluted (Mal. 1: 7)

In Ex. 25: 23-30, the bread and table were described as holy symbols. The priests in Malachi’s time were using the equivalent of store-bought bread for the offering. Another example of giving leftovers is found in the New Testament. In Acts 5: 1-11; we read the story of Ananias and Sapphira who held back a portion of the money they promised to give claiming that the amount they were giving was what their land sold for. Like Nadab and Abihu, both lost their lives for this offering of leftovers.

Today, a lot of people treat their service to God in the same way. Rather than getting to bed at a decent time, they’ll stay up late Saturday night watching movies or playing video games and then drag themselves into the church building at the last minute for Bible study and worship. They’ll sit dozing throughout the service, half-awake and yet in their mind they declare, “Hey, at least I’m here!” Another example is that people view worship as something to do between the time they get up in the morning and watching the game on television. Their focus is not on spiritual matters but that of the world. Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn. 4: 23-24)

If you are not giving God your firstfruits, then you are giving Him the leftovers. Whether it is your attendance (Heb. 10: 25), the collection (2 Cor. 9: 7), or our attitude during the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11: 27-29); it should be a matter of importance not to take these things lightly and treat them as common things.