Day 38 - Waste?

There is good waste and there is bad waste. Industrial waste flowing into our rivers is bad waste, but well rotted horse manure on our gardens is good waste. We need to know the difference. 

Our society is obsessed with productivity and efficiency, driven by greed. How often the story goes of an ever decreasing work force trying to manage the same work load? It results in long, long hours and more people going off sick with stress. 

I don't like wasting time. I find punctuality difficult because I like to fit in as much as I can before leaving! I am slowly learning the lesson that getting places early produces less stress..... and who knows if the extra time spent waiting on the station platform could be an opportunity for God to speak into my life, or time to read a book or just chat with someone? On the contrary, hours spent surfing the internet or gaming late into the night is probably a poor use of time. You could say that all the hours I am spending waiting on God throughout these 50 days is wasted time, but I look on it more as an investment. I'm investing in my future, and hopefully helping a few people as I go.

Wasted space? They want to pack as many tiny houses into our green spaces as they can. Those little parks are places for children to play and mums and dads to chat and dog-walkers to breathe in some fresh air for a few moments before they commute into work. We need to think carefully where are the best places to build.

How about wasted money? We had an expensive family holiday a couple of years ago. Having four children on a musician's budget has meant that we've had many an enjoyable camping holiday over the years, but a little inheritance money encouraged us to travel further afield. Later in the year when money was tighter I was tempted to think that the money spent was a waste of resources, but it was actually an investment in our family relationships, and we had fun! However, perhaps we need to assess how much we spend in coffee shops over the year, and maybe we don't need quite as many new clothes! We need wisdom to know what is money well spent and what is waste.

Finally, I am thinking about love. Sometimes it seems as if our love is wasted on an elderly relative with dementia, who only growls at us in return, or a smile is not worth the effort if our work colleague continues to give us the cold shoulder. Look upon it as an investment. We are investing in our own peace of mind and in who we are becoming as people, and we are doing what Jesus says we should: showing His love to the unappreciative, and one day, who knows, they may respond.