What a waste
To waste something is to take something that I have, or that has been given to me and to use it up in a fashion that is inconsistent with Godly Biblical stewardship. It is a term that is negative in nature. On the surface we might say that we waste little; in reality we waste much.
The Biblical term wasting refers to the idea of spending, or to be spent up, or to be depleted. Certainly when we spend up resources or spend up our time for that which does not profit, we are guilty of wasting.
We waste: food, time, money, life, things, potential, and opportunities. We waste relationships, responsibilities, and resources.
No one on purpose would throw good things in a waste can? Or would they?
On a consistent daily basis, we are making choices that determine what we do with God-given stewardships.
God gives us resources, opportunities, and time, not to squander them or spend them up for that which will not profit. He has a plan for our lives and desires that we might be spent for His purposes not our own!
It is Biblical to spend and be spent for the Lord, but is a waste to burn up our God-given resources upon our own wishes. The Apostle Paul had this heart in II Corinthians 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
The children of Israel had great promise and potential to enter the Promised Land under the leadership of the Lord, but rather than obey the Lord and believe Him, they were wasted in the wilderness. Truly this was not God’s plan for their lives. They wasted their potential. Numbers 14:33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 2:14 And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them. Wasting in the wilderness or conquering in the promise land—What a choice! What happens in the wilderness stays in the wilderness. Because God’s people waffled with the opportunity before them, they wandered for forty years, and they were wasted!
Even something as small as a piece of wood can be wasted. Psalm 80:13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. The boar causes holes to be drilled through a piece of wood. You may have been able to use the timber for your house at one time, but now it is worthless, its strength is gone, it is wasted. How sad that many believers waste their lives in the same way. It would do us each well so seek the Lord to point out any spiritual boars and termites.
A slothful person is said to be the relative a wasting person. The slothful man has opportunity to work and rise to the occasion, but he wastes his time and energy upon himself. Proverbs 18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
Did you know that it is possible to waste your parents? Proverbs 19:26 He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. How many young people take for granted the love and affection that has been poured into them by a godly father and mother? They desire to “get out of the house.” These young people are wasting their parents. There are children who try to get as much as they can from their parents, but never give anything in return? They are wasting their parents. Children waste their parents when they choose to ignore their parents and to seek to spend time with other people. Oh that we might not be guilty of chasing away our parents! Never waste a minute of the precious time you have in the home with dad and mom. Too many young people push so hard to get out of the house, not realizing they are only wasting and chasing away their parents. Savor the stewardship of your home!
The younger son in Luke 15 wasted his parents but also his substance on riotous living. He spent all and had nothing to show in return for it. Luke 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Riotous living may be fun for a season, but the reaping and rewards are not something that is pleasant. Wasting always leads to wanting! Luke 15: 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
We have a choice today. We have been given much substance. It may be the substance of time, life, money, opportunities, relationships, and responsibilities. Will we spend up our resources for the Lord=Biblical Stewardship, or will we spend up our resources upon riotous living=what a waste!
Lord don’t let me waste any more of the resources that you have given me! Forgive me for wasting!