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What Do You Do with the Crumbs that Fall from Your Table.

The Lord said to the disciples, “Gather up the crumbs.” Why crumbs?  Why are crumbs so important to God? You can accomplish a lot with the crumbs. 

One late afternoon, I decided to run out to Winthrop to fly fish. When I got out of the car, I was happy to see that there were hundreds of fish right in front of me. I immediately called my friend Jack, who lives just up the street. Jack is an internationally known fly tier and would appreciate having such a phone call. Within a few moments, he was fishing with me. We were standing together. I had a good-sized fish on, but I got a little too excited and snapped him off.  I reached in my fly fishing vest for my box of flies, but found nothing. Oh, No! I must have forgotten to return the box to my vest when I restocked it. I stood there blankly, looking out over the blue yonder.

My friend asked, “What’s the matter?”  I replied, “I just lost my only fly.”  Jack came over to me and pulled out his fly box. When he opened the box, a fly fell out of the box and onto the ground because the box was jammed with flies. Remember, he is a fly tier. After it fell, I picked it off the ground, and he said, “Just keep it.” I looked at the fly, and you could tell it was used. The feathers were all mangled, dry seaweed stuck on it, and it looked like it had seen better days.  I have to tell you it was one of the best fishing days of my life with that junky fly. If he had not been there and had given me one of his flies, I would have gone home.

Now, if you were to ask my fly-tying friend the question, “What did you do today that would be considered great?”  I am sure he would never admit that he gave me one of his beaten-up, used, junky flies that fell out of his box. He would tell you that he wrote another chapter in his book, tied flies for a special gift box and sent it to a customer, or paid the rent. But if you rephrased the question, “What did you do with the” crumbs” that fell from your table?” he would probably say, “I just made somebody’s day. He had the best fishing day of his life.” It doesn’t take much to make a difference for someone.

The Syrophoenician woman asked Jesus to cast a demon from her daughter, who was tormented. Jesus said it was not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs. The woman responded, “I’ll take the crumbs that fall from the table. Kids never finish all their food. They do not eat lima beans or kale. They sneak it to the dog under the table. I’ll take the crumbs.” Jesus loved that answer. God likes the crumbs because He can do a lot with them.

There was a poor man who needed food. All he wanted was a few scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. After the rich man died, he wanted to deliver a message to his brothers, who were still alive. We all need to hear this message: “It doesn’t take much. All the poor man wanted was some food. I did not have to give up my business, sell the boat, or even mortgage my house. All the poor man wanted was a few crumbs that fell from the table. It does not take much.”  

God is not going to ask us, “What great thing did you do in life?” The question we need to answer is, “What did we do with the extra, the leftovers, and the crumbs?” Hopefully, we can answer, “I made a bunch of people very happy.”

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