Scripture

 When they were all full, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces left over; let us not waste a bit.” So they gathered them all and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left over from the five barley loaves which the people had eaten.

John 6:12-13, GNT

Quote

God does not create anything to be disposed of without being used.

~Calvin Miller

I don’t think daddy ever read the Good News Translation; if he had, John 6:12 would have been his favorite verse, “Let us not waste a bit {of food}.” My daddy was not strict; mother was, daddy was not, but there were some things he did not allow: [1] If You embarrassed him in front of company, look out. [2] Complain about the food mother put on the table or [3] Waste food. Thou shalt not waste food. He and mother both lived through the Great Depression and they did not throw anything away. Hannah would go up every few years and clean out their refrigerator, because they would not throw anything away. I could never peel fruit or vegetables to please mother. She always said the same thing: “Son, you are peeling it away.” I left too much potato on the peeling. Now, I am not as bad and mother and daddy, but I hate to see people waste food, and it bothers me to waste food. Evidently, Jesus was opposed to wasting food.

There are several things about this story that are fascinating {other than wasting food}. They started this dinner on the ground with five hush puppies and two fish. Jesus took the bread and fish and blessed it. In the transfer from His omnipotent hand to the hands of the disciples, the food multiplied. They had the crowds sit down in groups and when they gave the first person in the group their bread and fish, they handed it to someone else. The more they gave and shared, the more God provided for them to give and share. Lesson number one: Christian stewardship does not diminish us. The more you give, the more you will get so you can give again. It is the law of the harvest, the more you sow, the more you reap. The second very important principle is: we have nothing to give until Jesus gives to us. Everything comes from HIM. He puts it in our hands. The only reason June and I can give is that God has blessed us with something to give. There have been many times where I had nothing to give and so I prayed and asks God to give me something to give and He either gave me something or showed me something that I had not considered. I love John 6. It is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.

Extra

Granny Turrentine was not in her apartment yesterday. She stayed with Sue and Eddie a few days after the Michigan trip and if I understood correctly: she had covid but is over it. I didn’t get to talk to Gregg or Traci but I know there next trip to Little Rock has been delayed. If I understand correctly, Melanie and Brent are at MD Anderson in Houston. She will be doing something similar to what Gregg did on the bone marrow transplant. Remember to pray for all our cancer warriors.

PTL for the wonderful rain. It rained here for three hours and we needed it. I haven’t been to the garden yet but I know we have mud. Before the rain, we had 4 inches of dust. I can’t believe how fast it can get dry. Thank you LORD for the rain.

We had a TOWN HALL meeting at the POINT last night. We are in the process of doing upgrades on sound, security, carpet and adding a 40X60 fellowship hall. We have our pad ready and hopefully, we will be pouring some concrete in a couple of weeks.