Waste Not, Want Not

Recall an experience of cleaning your refrigerator or kitchen cabinets only to find old, wilted, expired food that you now have to throw away.

Recall the disappointment of realizing that your resources - money, time and energy - which were spent on acquiring the food item, will literally (in some cases) be thrown down the drain.

Feel into the experience of regret and frustration that you did not avail yourself of the wholesome benefits intended when you originally received your food item - now turned garbage.

Relive the mental images you suddenly envision of wholesome, delicious and satisfying meals you could have created and experienced if you had used what you already had, when you had the chance.

Although this is a simplistic example, the impact of the wastage is a feeling of legitimate disappointment and loss, a missed opportunity and forfeited potential.

Imagine how our Creator feels when we waste our gifts, skills, time and innate resources which he has so carefully and intentionally instilled in us as His children, created in His image and likeness.

He who expended the energy and created the masterpieces which are you and I, complete with everything innately required within for the fulfillment of our purpose here on earth.

Imagine He who designed and formed us from cellular conception to living, breathing , speaking, thinking, active human beings, purposed to bear satisfying 'fruit' for his glory, worship and enjoyment.

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein." said the Psalmist

Compare our feelings of regret for simple things such as wasted, spoilt food; magnify that experience to the realm of the regret of a life wasted, with potential forfeited.

We can only wonder, how does the Creator view us when we deliberately allow our talents and gifts to wilt and be shadowed .

How does he feel when we decide to forego opportunities he provides us due to fear or when we assume we are not fit or good enough to produce and create potential greatness in service of others and to His glory?

How does he feel when His purpose, thwarted by our ignorance, leads to waste?

Allow that to sink in for a while.

Thankfully, unlike spoilt food items to be cast aside without hesitation, in the sight of our Creator we can always be redeemed, once there is life.

Thankfully, God is not as quick to discard us without providing the opportunity for us to be renewed, refreshed and restored.

His methods may not be as blatantly clear as we would prefer - but this is where he requires infinite trust and faith.

Let us avoid as far as possible, being wasteful.

Let us avoid wasting the time we have, the strengths we have, the opportunities we have, the relationships we have, the power we have.

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash

Let us humbly and openly seek His purpose for our lives.

Let us obediently utilize our strengths and our skills and our time to serve others when we are led to do so. I believe in so doing we are fulfilling our assignments as intended by our Creator.

Let us make it a priority to avoid a wasteful existence.

The Scripture says:

“For to everyone who has [and values his blessings and gifts from God, and has used them wisely], more will be given, and [he will be richly supplied so that] he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have [because he has ignored or disregarded his blessings and gifts from God], even what he does have will be taken away."

(Matthew 25:29 - Amplified Bible Version)

The depth of this scripture resonates like the deepest floors of the ocean.

Allow yourself to comprehend its gravity

The clarity is unmistakable.

The truth is clear.

As we go forward, let us all anchor this in our heart to enable us to fully actualize all we were created to be, wasting nothing we have been blessed with.

Thanks for taking the time to engage with me today. Be blessed.