No Waste

My grandparents wrote-the-book on recycling!  They wasted very little!  They collected rain water, saved newspapers, re-used containers and plastic bags.  If something seemed useful, it lived to see another day!

 

What does it mean to be poured out for Christ?  Poured out is usually what I feel at the end of a work day!   Near the end of his life and from a Roman prison, Paul wrote words to encourage Believers to persevere (stay strong) in difficult times.  The persecution of Christians and the disregard for religious liberty are nothing new.  Paul knew he didn’t suffer alone at the hands of a “crooked and twisted generation” (Philippians 2:15), so he wrote: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:6-7).  Oswald Chambers writes being poured out is “an act of your will, not your emotions.”  I certainly know how to be whiney and grumbly when life is tough, and I forget there’s something useful – refining, purifying – in the fire.  God wants to empty me-of-me so He can be more than God of my glory but [also] Lord of my life.  John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30).  Daddy Bill and Nanny taught me much about recycling, and it wasn’t throwing plastics into a recycle bin – they saw potential and value in what others disposed.  No struggle or difficulty is wasted when given to God: His child always emerges stronger and more deeply convinced of Who He is and of His enduring faithfulness.  Let us never forget there is no waste whatsoever in being poured out for Christ!