Leftovers

READ: LUKE 9:10-17; ROMANS 5:5; 1 THESSALONIANS 3:12

Do you like leftovers? I love them. I would prefer to take leftovers as my lunch over a sandwich any day! When I was growing up, I remember my grandmother would designate one day of the week to have “must-go” casserole for supper. That meant she would take all the leftovers from the week before and make some sort of casserole—it was always something unique. Personally, I’m thankful for leftovers because it means that my family has more than enough to eat.

The amazing thing about today’s Scripture passage is that there were leftovers. Jesus was feeding over 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. There shouldn’t have been any leftovers at all. In fact, there should have been several thousand people who didn’t get anything to eat. Instead, Jesus did a miracle, and there ended up being more food than they started out with—that day was overflowing with leftovers.

God can do that in the lives of His people too. He can take a sinner who has lots of bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, and He can fill them with His overflowing love—so much so that they have leftover love to give to others. The truth is, we’re all sinners apart from Jesus. But once we know Jesus, we can share His abundant love in any situation because, as Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love has been poured out in our hearts.” And His love is too good not to share! • Melissa Yeagle

• Can you think of a time someone showed God’s love to you? What did they say or do?

• In God’s kingdom, there is always more than enough love, compassion, and forgiveness to go around—because Jesus’s death and resurrection is just that powerful! (You can find more about this good news on our "Know Jesus" page.) And if we know Jesus, we never need to worry about running out of love because His Holy Spirit lives in us. The love we share with others doesn’t come from us—it comes from God! When do you find it difficult to love others? Consider taking a moment to talk to God about this. You can always ask Him to remind you of how much He loves you and the people around you.

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (CSB)