SCRAP!
One of my favorite slang words in the sports world today is the word ‘Scrap‘. As a young kid, I was honored if a coach referred to me as a scrapper saying things like “That Bostwick kid is a scrapper” or “He will scrap with anyone”. I was small, skinny, and fit every definition of the word. I came from a family line of scrappers. Moonshiners, many in and out of jail, and plenty who needed a Savior. Maybe that is why He chose me, an insignificant nobody, just like you.
Is this concept found in the Bible?
Let’s first define the word ‘Scrap‘.
This is my favorite definition of scrap: (noun) a REMNANT of material that is often thrown away after being cut away from the main material. I could go all day on that definition alone. A scrap is what is remaining after what is needed has been used to do the job intended by most people. Scraps are not specially cut, but the result of something else that was specially cut to make something of value. A scrap could be referred to as the leftovers after a well-planned meal is enjoyed. Scraps are often thrown to the dogs.
Let’s focus for a minute on the word ‘REMNANT’ taken from the previous definition. A remnant is the small remaining portion of what is usually our plan. What if God focuses on that small insignificant portion and uses it to fulfill His plan over and over again? Would that cause you to pay a little more attention to that small piece of scrap. For some reason that makes me think of scrap iron. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. What if our junk, is what God uses to complete His treasure. My son is a talented welder. Have you seen what a gifted welder can do with a piece of scrap iron?
God spoke through prophets in the Old Testament. Men like Jeremiah, Samuel, and Samson were chosen to be prophets prior to birth. There were also women prophets such as Miram, Deborah, and Huldah. This group of people were definitely cut from a different cloth. This is possibly a better way to say it. Prophets were a select remnant that God hand picked to do His plan. They definitely beat to their own drums. They often wore uncommon outfits or had long hair. They intentionally separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Would you do that?
Numerous prophets referred to the concept of the remnant (scraps) in the OT. Prophets like Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah. We can definitely conclude that God places a high value to those of His people whom He had set aside for holy purposes, those He labels as “REMNANTS” in several places in His Word.
Another definition of Scrap is an incomplete portion. That is so us. Without Jesus we are incomplete and powerless. With Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we become a Scrap worthy of Royalty. Like a piece of Scrap Iron in the Master’s Hand. God completes our portion, He is our portion. That is so powerful. Jesus came and was crucified on a cross to save us and so that the Holy Spirit would return to live in us and become our portion. This empowers us to daily share the Gospel and fulfill God’s Plan.
A word I found that often accompanies the word remnant is the word ‘mere’. When placed in front of remnant, it even goes farther to point out how small of a portion God needs to do the miraculous. Jesus referred to this remnant when He said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Many” will find the way to eternal destruction, but “few” will find the way to eternal life. This is the one remnant that you better make sure you belong to.
Let us take a look at another definition of the word ‘Scrap’: A fight, tussle, or skirmish. I love the fact that when you put action to the word Scrap, it becomes literally a fight.
In my redneck words, “God’s Scrappers” is a group that I want to be part of. In 1 Kings 19 God tells Elijah that he is not the only one left in Israel who had not bowed down to idols, God assured him that He had reserved a remnant of 7000 “whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him”. The days of Elijah are not so different than the today.
Jesus said in Luke 17:26-27, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the Ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Who was Noah? He was a just man, who walked with God. He became a remnant of eight that God used to save the human race. Jesus was referring to the days of Noah when He was describing what the conditions would be like just prior to His Return! Sadly the vast majority of the earth’s inhabitants will be living ungodly lives in a world filled with violence when Jesus returns for HIS REMNANT!
Fact! To show His power, God often works though the least, the smallest, and the most unlikely. A Remnant willing to stand and fight for Him. The old testament was a book of war and physical battles. Jesus changed the game plan in the New Testament. I promise you Jesus could scrap like no other. He was never pushed around, in fact the entire book of John is made up Jesus in confrontation after confrontation. He was the Master of Confrontation. Unconventionally, Jesus fought with love, because God is love and love never fails, a love that the world had never experienced. He fought as a Savior coming to save the lost, even His enemies, those unworthy like you and me. The greatest lesson we can take from our Messiah is the process by which He came and how He won His battles.
It may not look like a fight in the physical, but I have learned that the biggest battles are won in the spiritual realm long before the victory shows up in the physical realm. The greatest battle ever won took place in a realm that we can not see. It is there that Jesus conquered hell and the grave, demons still tremble at the mention of Jesus Name because of that battle. That’s what I call a SCRAP!
In order to be in God’s Remnant, one of His Scrappers, you must learn to love Spiritual Warfare!
God is looking for a REMNANT that will fight for the least, last, and lost. Someone willing to go to the nations, both just across the street you live on and to the ends of the earth. A Scrapper that will not only share the Good News, but someone who becomes the Good News.
Join God’s Holy Remnant! God is looking for a few Good Men and Women, willing scrappers, who will give all their heart to Him and fight like never before to save His beloved children.
Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash