A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Friday,
July 17,
2020
Strasburg Pike
farmview
Click to
enlarge
"Let
Nothing Be Wasted"
Message
summary: Resourcefulness is one more way we
can live in obedience to God. Let us be careful to
look for opportunities to be more resourceful and
prove to be good stewards of all that God has
entrusted to us. Remember, God can use the leftover
fragments!
![]() “When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten” (John 6:12,13). ![]() The basic premise of Blessings Of Hope is collecting excess food from huge corporations and then distributing to food banks and other ministries who do the actual point of contact distribution. They have connections with over 80 food producers and distributors regionally around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and in other states. It has grown to the point they now receive 12 tractor trailer loads of food daily. They presently serve food banks up and down the east coast and out to the Midwest. Thus far in 2020 they have distributed 24,947,506 pounds of food. This food is excess to the producer for a variety of reasons. Aaron pointed out that 40% of the food produced in America is wasted somewhere along the process and much ends up in landfills and otherwise, and his ministry wants to do something about it. They are following the example of the Lord, who said in the daily text "Let nothing be wasted". This type of resourcefulness is one of the virtues that we need to see increase in our day, a stark contrast to the disposable and wasteful habits our society has developed in recent decades. There are many homes where the leftover food on serving platters is scraped into the garbage without a second thought. ![]() After
a prayer of thanks by Jesus and distribution of the
meal the people "all had enough to eat”.
The scene had changed quickly from the murmuring
crowd asking, "What are we going to eat?" dilemma
into a veritable "All you can eat" feast. No skimpy
portions here! That’s just like our Lord. He truly
satisfies! Psalm 107:9 says, "For He satisfies
the thirsty and fills the hungry with good
things."
Let us consider a perhaps overlooked or certainly lesser considered detail in our daily text. Jesus had miraculously fed 5,000 with a little boy’s lunch consisting of just five small barley loaves and two small fish. After the meal Jesus instructed His disciples to go through the crowd and collect the leftovers. That detail is amazing to me. Why be concerned for leftovers, when He could repeat the same miracle of multiplication the next day and every day? Well, the Scripture doesn’t specifically tell us. Perhaps to indicate that more was actually left over after the full meal than they had in the beginning (even after feeding over 5,000 the pieces of the original five barley loaves filled twelve baskets). Interesting detail: There is no mention of leftover fish collected, perhaps because the fish would spoil rapidly whereas bread would be useful for several days. That’s pretty neat, but I don’t think that’s the reason. We find that in Jesus’ instruction when He said, “Let nothing be wasted". I just have a feeling that some of the folks had a fine meal on some day-old bread the following day! It surely brought about meaningful conversation as they recalled the miraculous multiplication that provided the leftovers they were partaking of or perhaps the disciples were later instructed to take the leftover bread to the poor. Blessings of Hope ministry provides a great example of resourcefulness so that nothing be wasted on a grand scale. I believe our resourcefulness is just one more way we can live in obedience to God. Can you think of at least one way that you could be more resourceful? Resourcefulness is one more way we can live in obedience to God. Let us be careful to look for opportunities to be more resourceful and prove to be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us. Remember, God can use the leftover fragments! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() Further
reflection on resourcefulness: My Mom
grew up during the Great Depression and like many in
that generation was very resourceful and thrifty.
It’s a characteristic that I didn’t always
appreciate as a child but now see it as an outlook
many in that generation had as a means of survival.
My Mom insisted we eat all the food on our plates
and then if there was any left on the serving
platters we could expect to have them in another
meal as "leftovers".
God has blessed me with a wife who is also very resourceful. She grew up in a large family in rural Oklahoma that worked hard just to get by including tending a full acre of garden. Through our forty-four years of marriage I have seen her resourcefulness demonstrated again and again. Once I was illustrating resourcefulness in a sermon and spoke of how she made delicious banana bread out of some ripe tomatoes that others would likely throw out. When I misspeak I am often clueless till I see the restrained chuckles throughout the congregation. Later people were asking Brooksyne for her banana bread recipe using ripe tomatoes! (Of course I meant to say “ripe bananas”.) In my
younger years I observed and worked alongside
hard-working farmers who tend to be very
resourceful. I recall how many uses a farmer could
find for baling wire. My father-in-law was such a
proponent of baling wire that he had it wrapped
around trees on his property in Arkansas in
preparation for a future use. The problem is the
trees grew and he was unable to get the wire off!
"Just Ordinary People" Video Danniebelle Hall A reminder that God uses the leftover fragments in our lives when we offer them to Him. "Little Is Much" Video Larry Ford What a great reminder for all of us! Blessings Of Hope Aaron and
other team members are part of a Convene group. We
attended the Convene meeting as guests of Ron and
Bonnie Hoover whom we have known for 13 years now.
Ron chairs the local Convene group and has a
marvelous mentoring ministry to business leaders
seeking to serve God in the manner in which they
operate their companies. Very recently he had a
severe health crisis but he just keeps going and
won't let the "old man in". Video (not a
Christian song but has an interesting perspective)
Essentially Clint Eastwood is asked how he keeps
going in his late eighties and he answers, "I
don't let the old man in".
Some
scenes from our journey yesterday
Whoever
set up the chairs for the Smucker Safety meeting
early yesterday morning has got the social
distancing part a little confused (actually they
have a sense of humor!)
Early
yesterday I stopped into visit Moses who has quite
a testimony of God's healing.
Aaron
is illustrating how Blessing of Hope works by
holding up a large ham and explaining how a major
processor had loads of ham to donate due to so
many Easter dinners for large family gatherings
being canceled due to Covid as well as the closing
of restaurants.
Click to enlarge Blessings
of Hope has some 12,000 registered volunteers.
Here several groups and families are packing
boxes. This ministry gives an opportunity for the
disabled to do meaningful work and also those
recently released from prison. It's a wonderful
sight!
Click to enlarge We
followed this couple for a ways on Ronks Road and
couldn't get over how fast they were going. After
finally passing them we saw their hidden secret,
they had motorized scooters, the first time we've
seen such in our area!
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