What are You Serving God? Your Leftovers or Your Best?

Thanksgiving is over, and many of us have been eating the leftovers all week. At first, you don’t mind eating the leftovers. One of my favorite things to do is combine the potatoes, stuffing, turkey, gravy and a little cranberry on the top. I know it probably sounds horrible, but having all those flavors coming together in one spoonful is delicious! However, by the third day of looking at those leftovers in the refrigerator, you just want them to go away! Somehow, the excitement of having those leftovers takes a quick turn south, and you want something new for your taste buds, and you are crying, “Foul!”

Imagine a life of leftovers. What if all you ever received from your spouse, family, or friends was leftovers after they had given all they had to everyone else? Day after day of receiving those little bits would make you believe you were not important or valued by those who say they love and care for you the most. Many times we do this to God. It is like giving the dog scraps from the table. However, the dog was meant to enjoy them, not God.

To make someone feel special, they have to become a priority. If God is not your priority, then whatever you are putting above Him is your God. It doesn’t mean other people are not significant in your life, but it demonstrates to God the value of your relationship with Him.

It is easy to fill our days with work, social media, errands, kids, sports, television or exercising to name a few, but if all we are giving God is our leftovers at the end of the day or nothing at all, how can we expect to nourish our souls by honoring God? How are we setting an example for others to follow when they never see God as a priority in our own lives?

Would you consider serving leftovers if someone very prestigious was coming for dinner? I bet you wouldn’t because you would feel honored they were showing up to eat at your house. Guess what? As a child of the King, there is someone who deserves more than our leftovers every day if we are His children. He deserves the best of who we are and what we have to offer.
Some of the reasons I think we enjoy leftovers are because they are easy and we don’t have to think about what we are going to have for dinner. However, just because something is easy the second or third time around doesn’t mean it always taste as good as it did the first time. Let’s face it fruit salad on the second day can look pretty disgusting.

God loves it when we come to Him first when we are fresh, awake and eager to talk with Him. Sometimes, it is before we go to sleep because that is how some of us are wired, but the important thing to ask yourself is, ‘What am I serving God?” Are you serving your best or did you give your best away leaving only leftovers for God?
It is important not to waste food, and from our human perspective eating leftovers is a good thing, but not when it comes to how we treat our relationship with God. If we desire for God to give us His best then we need to step up to the plate and give God the first fruits of every day. Somehow, when we do this we always have plenty to give to others, and no one is stuck eating leftovers.

So, how do we keep God from getting stuck with our leftovers?

#1. Keep God the Priority: Make a daily date with God and keep it! Think about how bad you would feel if someone kept making an appointment with you only to cancel, time after time. What if you had to pay a cancellation fee like you do if you go to the Dr.? When God is our priority, it changes our perspective and outlook in positive ways. It makes what seems impossible to do possible to do.

#2. Watch Your Boundaries: There is a reason there are margins on paper. It is so you don’t run over the edge! Keeping healthy boundaries also means you are doing a good job of taking care of yourself not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well. When you are well, everyone reaps the rewards.

#3 Be Honest: There are times when we have said we don’t have time, but we have spent an hour on Facebook or watched our favorite show. The enemy is always going to make a distraction to get you away from giving God your best. The more time we spend in making up excuses, the more time we lose not doing the important things.

#4 Clean Out Your Fridge: We all need to take a look at our personal refrigerator and clean out anything which isn’t healthy. Leftovers can become toxic and make you sick! If there are outdated items you have been hanging onto and haven’t thrown them away, such as hurt feelings, a bad habit or personal disobedience get rid of them. Here’s an example, you might have to delete an app on your phone or disconnect from the world for a few minutes so you can connect to God. Take action on your distractions!

Thanksgiving may have been a week ago, but the one thing I know God never gets tired of or considers leftovers is when we praise Him for everything He does for us on a daily basis. I need to go clean out my own fridge and get a fresh start!