Waste

Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. — John 6:12

A few weeks ago in one of our Life Groups we were discussing things we hate.  I mentioned one thing I hate is waste.  I don’t like to throw anything away that could be reused.  Therefore, we eat a lot of “left-overs” at our house. We give away a lot of clothes to Goodwill and Arc.  Any clothing not worth giving away, I reuse as rags in the garage.

According to National Wildlife, every week the people in the United States generate four million tons of trash.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we throw out even more—five million tons per week. Most of this “trash” is simply wasteful.

Consider this—If each person in America throws away just one bite of Thanksgiving turkey, that amounts to 8.1 million pounds of edible turkey in the trash can.  If each person throws away one tablespoon of stuffing, 16.1 million pounds of edible stuffing is wasted. Think about that next time you have a family gathering for a Thanksgiving dinner!

New Year celebrations add to the trash heap.  After the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, for example, the New York sanitation department cleans up an extra forty-two tons of garbage.

I’m not the only one who is bothered by waste. God also hates waste (read Prov. 12:27; 18:9; Isa. 55:2; Luke 15:13).  He doesn’t want to see the valuable resources He richly bestows upon us—such as, spiritual gifts, talents, abilities, time, money, vitality—lost or wasted on the trivial things of the world.  We must be good stewards of EVERYTHING God places in our control. One day we will give account to God about our wasteful living.

One of the greatest regrets I have is how many days, hours, and minutes, I’ve wasted on things that will be burnt up at the Judgment Seat of Christ. As Red Foley used to sing, “Wasted years, wasted years, oh, how foolish.” Amen—Foolish!

https://youtu.be/nh9y5ch68W0