Waste or Leftovers?

It's no secret that my youngest son HATES leftovers, but since I hate wasting food, we have leftover night at least once a week (to his great chagrin). Strangely though I don't consider throwing away Halloween candy a waste. Does anyone? If it ruins our guts or wastes our space, I'm liable to throw it away immediately. I justify calling one thing a "leftover" and another thing "waste" without feeling any disparity.

When you realize how brief and fragile your life is, when you sit in the stench of death, you'll look to define "waste" differently. You'll begin to ask: "Does it waste my time? Does it waste my body? Does it waste my resources?" You also realize that none of those things are actually yours to waste. You can't make time or resources, and your body won't last despite all your efforts to keep it young. So you begin to ask yourself more important critical questions, like "How do I want to invest my life as well as my leftovers."

It's important to distinguish between what you consider "waste" and what you consider "future fruit." Just because you've spent time or money on something, and it doesn't work out the way you intended, doesn't mean it was a waste.

It's like saying the sun is a waste if you can't see it behind the clouds. Aren't there many other people gaining warmth from that very same sun?

There's a story in the Bible about waste that I admit I struggled to understand for years. A man named David, who "wholeheartedly" followed God, seemed to selfishly waste a perfectly good gift from God. He was literally parched to death and complained audibly about it. So much so that three of his soldiers risked their lives to go and get him fresh water from the closest well, which was not close at all.

"The three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 'Far be it from me, LORD, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?' And David would not drink it." (2 Samuel 23:16-17)

In an act that appeared ludicrously wasteful, David made a decision that was significant enough to be included in the Bible. It presents us with a very different view on waste-- pouring out something valuable as an act of worship. David refused the cup in order to honor God first. His soldiers were probably as confused as Jesus' disciples were watching a young woman waste a bottle of perfume on Jesus' feet. Many people think Jesus' life was a complete waste when they read about how he died, but three days later provided a very different perspective on waste.

David, the young woman, and Jesus himself demonstrate how we are to give to God not just during the holidays, but every day. Give that which you desire most, not your leftovers. The thing you are parched for should be the very thing you give away. If you don't want to waste your life, then you must give it away as if it were garbage. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26)

Like a child gifting only broken or worn out toys, we are tempted to give away only what's left over. But if we hold too tightly to our favorite things they grow moldy in our dark, sweaty palms. They are hidden and eventually forgotten or crushed in our suffocating control. On the other hand, if we allow God to provide us with the very things we crave, then He receives glory. We gain everything by giving away everything.

May we pour out our lives like David in order to gain the living water that Christ offers us everyday. We will feel refreshed when we can proclaim like Paul, "I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). There should never be anything in our lives that we rationalize keeping, even if we are parched for it. Let it go. Unclench. And watch God provide it right back as a blessing rather than a moldy leftover.

~Wasting Carefully & Carelessly