Leftovers

At the risk of appearing snobbish or ungrateful, I’ve got a confession to make: I don’t like leftovers, i.e. cold food in need of being reheated. I always have the best of intentions to pull last night’s meal out of the refrigerator, throw it in the microwave, nuke it, and consume it, but I fail to do so time and time again. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve eaten my fair share of leftovers, but I can’t honestly say that I enjoy eating leftovers. The food never seems to taste or look the same. It lacks something after sitting in the refrigerator.

When President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, the inventory of items on his person, for some reason, just don’t seem to fit the profile of the highest ranking official of the United States of America. I don’t know why, but at first the items just didn’t seem to have that savory appeal I expected. Then it dawned on me the items only go to prove Lincoln was just a man with important employment status. Take note and see what I mean: The items consist of one pair of gold-rimmed spectacles with sliding temples and one of the bows was mended with string; one pair of folding spectacles in a silver case; an ivory pocket knife with silver mounting; a watch fob of gold-bearing quartz, mounted in gold; an oversize white Irish linen handkerchief with "A. Lincoln" embroidered in red cross-stitch; a sleeve button with a gold initial "L" on dark blue enamel; and a brown leather wallet, including a pencil, lined in purple silk with compartments for notes, U.S. currency, and railroad tickets. The wallet held a Confederate five-dollar bill and eight newspaper clippings. The clippings were from papers printed immediately before Lincoln's death, containing complimentary remarks about him written during his campaign for reelection to the Presidency. The Confederate five-dollar bill may have been acquired as a souvenir when Lincoln visited Petersburg and Richmond earlier in the month. Given to his son Robert Todd upon Lincoln's death, these everyday items, which through association with tragedy had become like relics, were kept in the Lincoln family for more than seventy years. They came to the Library of Congress in 1937 as part of the gift from Lincoln's granddaughter, Mary Lincoln Isham. Leftovers to be looked upon by generations, but never used again.

[Philippians 2:1-4] With respect to your Christian walk, do you realize that God is not interested in your leftovers? In fact, Jesus says that we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Among other things, this means that God should come first in every aspect of our lives. Indeed, we should NOT give God our leftover love (Matthew 22:37-38), time (Ephesians 5:15-16), thoughts (Philippians 4:8), service (Galatians 5:13), or money (Proverbs 3:9). In the mind of God, such leftovers lack something. Being content with giving God the leftovers reveals something about the person who has this attitude. John said, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:9-10). God loved us all so much in the midst of our sin that He took the initiative by sending His Son into the world to die in our place (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). God gave us His very best; in return, He expects the same. Indeed, contentment in giving God the leftovers exposes an ungrateful, selfish attitude. Leftovers are fine when it comes to nourishing our physical bodies. At times, leftovers are unavoidable, even necessary. However, with respect to God and our spirituality, a life of leftovers is unacceptable, especially when we take into account the example of His Son (Philippians 2:5-11).