When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” John 6:12
I don’t like to see waste in my home. Teaching the boys how to be good to our environment is a step in the right direction. When they outgrow clothes or toys, they can donate them and pass them on. If they’re done using something, can it be utilized for a different purpose? I also believe in not buying items that we’re not going to touch after a couple of weeks, since they’ll end up in a landfill.
We never have as much waste as when we’re on vacation. It drives me nuts! We always end up with lots of water bottles when we’re away; at least we can recycle those. We end up with leftover food still unopened in the box, although we can take those to a food cupboard. Let’s not forget all the oyster shells too. I just found out there’s even a place for those to be reused! Hmm…I guess most of the waste can be recycled if only we find out where and how. It might take a few extra minutes of our time, but it’s worth it.
The boys are learning about being good stewards of the earth, but they’re also learning about being good stewards of the gifts God has given them. Everything we “own” really belonged to God. All the toys, money, and even our bodies are really His. Yes, that means our talents and how we spend our time too. So even though we could recycle quite a bit of our wastes, there is one thing that can’t be recycled. lTaiichi Ohno said, “One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.”
We can’t recycle our wasted time. How true! What’s worse is knowing that we belong to God, so essentially we’re wasting His time. We’re spending His time watching someone else live their life on television or reading about a fictional character live their life in a book. There isn’t anything wrong with relaxing and entertainment, but when we’re not seeing our potential…scary…a waste of all those talents, gifts, and dreams God put in us.
How do we feel if someone is late and keeps us waiting? It seems like they perceive their time as being more important than ours. That can really irritate us!
The character trait for today is Punctuality-showing esteem for others by doing the right thing at the right time (definition from characterfirst.com).
Now, think about how much time was wasted when you had to wait for someone. Was it the length of commercials in a television show? I bet you thought about all the things you could’ve been doing instead of waiting. The next time that you’re in front of the television, review all the things you thought about doing while waiting for that person who was late. Who’s wasting your time?
Do you happen to be the one who makes people wait? Are you stealing their time? Jesus said to let nothing be wasted. Let that include your time and other people’s time. Punctuality shows politeness and respect. It’s a quality of a leader. Be a leader today!
