A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man’s greatest tragedy and God’s heaviest grief.
A. W. Tozer
Waste of any kind is sad, and certainly the waste of an entire life is the saddest of all. What we do today is important because we are exchanging a day of our life for it. We all know people who we would say have wasted their lives, but we should remember that a life wasted happens one day at a time. To waste one’s entire life one has to waste many things: time, talent, money, resources, energy, health, et cetera.
We are always spending something, and when we do, we are either wasting it or investing it. God doesn’t want you to waste your life—He wants you to invest it and bear good fruit.
Jesus once fed five thousand men, in addition to women and children, with a boy’s lunch that consisted of five loaves of bread and two fish. He performed one of the greatest miracles that we read about in the Bible. After the people had eaten and were full, Jesus said this:
Gather up now the fragments (the broken pieces that are left over), so that nothing may be lost and wasted.
John 6:12 (AMPC)
Many people would have considered the leftovers trash, but not Jesus. He made sure nothing was wasted. In much the same way, some people are considered by others to be trash, good for nothing, but not by Jesus. He actually chooses and uses those the world would treat with contempt and throw away (see I Corinthians 1:27–28). I was one of those who would have been rejected, so I am very glad that Jesus doesn’t like waste. He can do a lot with broken pieces!
We can follow Jesus’ example and be careful not to waste what He has given us.
In the Old Testament, we read of God’s command to the farmers not to waste the fragments left on the edges of their fields after harvest, but to let the poor come in and glean them (see Deuteronomy 24:19).
Perhaps you feel you don’t have much, but let’s remember the very small lunch that the boy offered to Jesus. Jesus multiplied it and fed thousands of people. Instead of being so concerned about what you don’t have, offer to Jesus what you do have and watch Him multiply it. If we think too little of what we have, we are likely to waste it, so remember that whatever you have, it is important! You are important!
Offer to Jesus what you do have and watch Him multiply it.
The Bible says there is a time to be born and a time to die (see Ecclesiastes 3:2). Birth and death are both very important events, but the most important thing is what happens in between. If you do research on any famous person in history, you will see his or her name followed by the year he or she was born and the year he or she died with a dash (–) in between. The same dash is used on tombstones. A simple dash is used to express a person’s entire life! So much goes on in the dash, but the important thing is to examine what it is.
What are you doing with your dash?
Life often seems like a dash because time seems to go by quickly. That is all the more reason to make sure that our “dash” is filled with good choices that produce excellent results.
The apostle Paul urges us to make the very most of our time, not passing up any good opportunities. (See Ephesians 5:16.) Some opportunities are offered to us only once, and if we waste them, we never get them back.
When Esther was offered the opportunity to help bring deliverance to the Jews, she was afraid of being put to death in the process. When she seemed reticent to do what was being requested of her, Mordecai sent her this message:
For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?
Esther 4:14 (AMPC)
The fear that Esther felt was understandable, but if we want to seize God’s timing in our lives, we will need to be willing to do God’s will even if we must “do it afraid.” Anyone who plans to wait for a time when they have no fear or opposition will miss many opportunities in life. Mordecai suggested to Esther that this opportunity that was before her was perhaps her intended destiny. She was called for just this time in history. Thankfully, she did what was requested of her and in the process she became queen and was used by God to deliver an entire nation.
When we seize the opportunities that are in front of us, we realize God’s reward that is attached to our obedience.
When God put the opportunity before Dave and me to go on television, one of the strong impressions that Dave received from God was, “If you don’t take this opportunity, it will never pass you by again.” Not all opportunities are like that, but for some reason this one was. Who knows, perhaps God was looking for someone to fill a certain position in His Kingdom plan when he called you or me, and, as with Esther, if we don’t say yes, He will find someone else!
Whether the opportunities are small or large, when we are given chances to serve God, it is an honor. There are billions of people on the earth, and God can choose whomever He wants to. If He chooses you for anything, redeem the time and, as the apostle Paul said, “buy up each opportunity” (see Colossians 4:5 AMPC). We can buy an opportunity with time. We can spend our time and use it to invest in God’s plan and then we reap His reward.
Even something as simple as taking time to study God’s Word is an opportunity, and we can take advantage of it or we can miss it. It takes time to study, so we buy the opportunity with time, but in doing so we invest in our future. The time is ours, and we can invest it or waste it.
What about the opportunities we have to encourage someone or to witness about the love of God? How often do we miss those opportunities because we are in too big a hurry or we are not sensitive to need in front of us?
Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations, with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.
Colossians 4:5 (AMPC)
Showing patience, kindness, and love to those we encounter daily is a very important ministry, and one we don’t want to take lightly. I think each person we meet is an opportunity of some kind. Even if we merely exchange a smile, it may leave a lasting impression.
I think each person we meet is an opportunity of some kind.
Recently, I was in a jewelry store and the man waiting on me noticed a ring I was wearing and complimented me on how attractive he thought it was. I commented that it was a gift and he seemed to be even more interested, so I told him the story behind the ring. I shared that at one time many years ago I had felt that I was supposed to give away the one ring I had at that time to someone else. It was a sacrifice for me, not because the ring was expensive but because it had sentimental value and was my only ring. I gave it away, and about three years later a woman I did not know handed us a package and simply said, “This is for Joyce,” and walked off. The package contained a ring box with the ring I was now wearing. It was much more valuable and beautiful than the one I had given away. I then went on to say to the man, “That is the way God is: if you give to someone out of obedience and love for God, He always gives you back more than you gave. It is called sowing and reaping in the Bible.”
The man thanked me three times before I left the store for sharing that story. He said he had asked God for a blessing that day and he had received it in hearing the story. Obviously, the story meant something more to him than what I was aware of, but I could have easily missed the opportunity had I not been willing to take the time to share with him.
Being a blessing to people always takes a little time, so be sure you redeem your time and buy up each opportunity that comes your way.
The best plan to follow concerning money is to give some, spend some, and save some. By keeping these areas balanced, we can ensure that we are using wisdom with the finances God has entrusted to us.
Americans waste more than most societies have. It is important that we respect what we have and not waste it. Do I ever waste money? Yes, at times I do. I buy a coffee from a coffee specialty shop and end up not liking it, so it is wasted. I am attracted to a pair of earrings that shine and sparkle, so I buy them and never end up wearing them because they don’t really go with anything I have. I could share other examples, but I just wanted to confess my waste before I speak to you about yours. I am sure that we are all wasteful at times and it is probably not intentional, but some could be avoided with some forethought.
We can all learn to waste less and have more respect for what God has given us. One of the ways I am trying to do that is to be sure I use what I spend money on, and if I am not going to use it, then I give it away. I also practice thinking about purchases, especially larger ones, before taking action. For some reason, a lot of things that seem so attractive in the store don’t look as good when we get them home. Emotional purchases very often end up being regretted later.
Proverbs speaks frequently about prudence, which is simply good management. So the “give, spend, and save” principle is prudence in action. God’s Word strongly urges us to give to God the first portion of all of our increase. I personally believe in tithing, which is giving the first 10 percent of what we earn. I also don’t believe we should stop there, but that we should be very generous in giving and, when we are, we will not lack.
For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give—large or small—will be used to measure what is given back to you.
Luke 6:38 (TLB)
When we work hard, it is good for us to reap some reward, so it is prudent to spend some of what you earn on things you want to enjoy. You don’t want to be self-centered, but always denying yourself is not a good policy, either, because if you do, you will end up being resentful and feeling that your labor never produces anything for you personally. The Bible teaches that we should not muzzle the ox when it is treading out the corn (see I Timothy 5:18). In other words, everyone (even animals) needs to enjoy part of the harvest from their labor.
It is also wise to save some of all that we earn. When we do, we will be prepared for any unexpected expense that comes up. We will be able to help others in their emergencies, and we will eliminate a lot of fear and worry about what we will do if certain things happen and we have no money.
The Bible tells a story of a wealthy man who had run out of room for his harvest, and as he pondered what to do, he decided to build bigger barns and store up more and more. He wasn’t using what he had—he was admiring it (see Luke 12:15–20). His abundance made him feel secure, but he would have been much better off if he had used a portion of it to bless others and perhaps himself.
The Bible contains a strong message about the importance of being a good steward of what God gives us. If our resource is time, money, energy, or talent, we are taught to use it wisely. We can invest it in order to reap a harvest for God. If we don’t use it, we are in danger of losing it! When we use what we have wisely, it always produces more, but if we do nothing in laziness or fear, we lose what we have (see Matthew 25:14–28).
I believe we all have a certain amount of energy assigned to us in life and we need to manage it wisely. I worked too hard in some of the earlier years of my life, and I ended up not having enough energy for a few years due to illness that resulted from not getting proper rest and sleep. We cannot circumvent the spiritual laws that God has placed in the earth that rule all of us. We have all heard “Waste not, want not,” but do we ever think of applying that principle to our energy?
If I sleep well for a sufficient amount of time, I am more productive during the day. If we live balanced lives when we are in our twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties, we will still have sufficient energy when we are in our sixties, seventies, and eighties. Be prudent with your energy. Don’t run until you are exhausted each day and have no reserves left at all. Running on empty isn’t wise. It makes us grouchy and keeps us from enjoying our lives.
It is very difficult to get a young person to listen to a message like this, but God has instituted laws of rest, and if we abide by them we will be glad later.
In addition to rest, we can also use the energy we have wisely. Getting angry, for example, takes a lot of emotional energy, so why do it? It doesn’t add anything to your life, but it does take a lot from you. Worry takes a lot of energy and it is a total waste. Trying to control people and make them do what we think they should do is exhausting and it never works, so we would also be wise to avoid that. To be honest, if we just pay attention to what exhausts us and start eliminating those things from our lives, we would have energy to spare.
We are all gifted in some way, and we can use those gifts to benefit God and other people. The gifts we have are placed in us for other people, for their good and their enjoyment. A great singer entertains us. Her gift causes her to work, but in exercising the gift she is fulfilled, and we are entertained and blessed.
The gifts we have are placed in us for other people.
We can look at any gift, talent, or skill in the same way. What would we do if nobody had the skill to be builders, doctors, or dentists? What if nobody could play a musical instrument, or teach, or cook?
Don’t waste your life by wasting your abilities. Find employment that uses your gifts and you will love your job. We are all fulfilled and satisfied when we are doing what God intended us to do. I work hard, but I am doing what I am intended to do and, therefore, it is not stressful. It is a joy and I find fulfillment in doing it.
We are stewards of all that God gives to us, and He asks us to be faithful. He always rewards us for a job well done! More than ever, be determined not to waste your resources. Pray and ask God to show you areas where you might use more prudence. I believe that God gives us more than enough of everything we need in life, and if we manage it well, we will not lack any good thing.
• What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.
• God doesn’t want you to waste your life—He has so much more in store for you.
• Even if you have to “do it afraid,” make the most of every opportunity God puts in front of you.
• Financial prudence will keep you from wasting the resources God has given you.
• Rest and energy are resources that are important for us to use wisely.
• The gifts in your life are best when they glorify God and encourage other people.