Leftovers

My wife won’t eat leftovers. She has this thing about eating food that’s not fresh.

I, on the other hand, love leftovers. Sometimes things taste better the day after. Mom used to fix me roast for my birthday dinner. I ate the roast, but the next day I loved to make hash and cut everything up and slather gravy on it. To me, that was better than the birthday roast.

But some leftovers can turn rancid. We might have leftover resentments or grudges when we open God’s word or start to pray. James tells us to

“lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness [so you can] receive with meekness the implanted word.” James 1:21

In Psalm 51, David asked God to

“create a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

When we read His word, can we discern what God says to us if we have leftover resentment in our heart? Can His Word produce fruit in us?

When we pray, will God hear us if we have iniquity in our heart, or leftover anger?

Leftovers are delicious and tasty, when we feast on them. But leftovers in our spiritual life can turn toxic and make us sick.