Every marriage has its quirky side to it. Ours is no exception. When I throw something out, either in the
garbage or into a recycling bin, it invariably returns, rises from the dead so
to speak. Sometimes this little dance
between my wife and I will go through three or four cycles. I throw something out, it shows up on the
counter, I throw it out again, it is back on the table. We are not always on the same page when it
comes to what to keep and what to “recycle”.
A growing number of us are becoming increasingly conscious of the evils
of wastefulness. You are probably like
me. You recycle, you reuse, you
repurpose. You try not to buy items
without having a legitimate reason for getting them. This way of thinking filters down to other
areas of life. You don’t want to waste
your time so when stuck in traffic you listen to podcasts, books or
informational radio programs and you avoid areas where you know there will be
backups and delays. You count your
calories and the minutes you waste waiting in line. You probably were cut off by someone recently
who was not wanting to lose a second by being behind you in traffic. If someone in my family leaves a glass of
milk on the counter, I am tempted to pour it back into the milk container
rather than throw it out. Maybe, you are
like that too!
In an age of recycling and repurposing, there are two accounts in the
Bible that come across as ridiculous. One is in the Old Testament and the
second is in the New Testament. David
was a hero king. He fought numerous
battles, expanded the borders of Israel and forced several kings into subjugation. It was not always easy; many times, he fought
superior forces who had the upper hand.
In one such military endeavor, he found himself and his army surrounded
by the Philistines who were bent on his destruction. Holed up in a cave, he had
a craving. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison
was at Bethlehem. David longed for water
and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well
near the gate of Bethlehem!" (2 Samuel 23: 15) Bethlehem was his hometown and the water
from the well there was more precious to him than the finest of wines. Three of his mightiest soldiers decided to
break through the Philistine lines and grab some of the water and bring it to
their beloved king. When they arrived
back with the water, David refused to drink any of it. … instead, he poured it out before the Lord. "Far be it from me, O 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: 15-17 NIV)
This was of course a colossal waste of time and effort and no one would
begrudge these three men for being furious with their king for not drinking the
water they risked their lives delivering to him. Yet that is the point. We all are heading to dust and ashes and
everything we gain, hold, make, earn, save or grab will slip from our hands and
either be a treasure of Satan’s or an offering to Christ. We decide the fate of everything that comes
to us; we are the judge and jury. David
realized, and perhaps you have too, that love, and courage and loyalty and
devotion are bigger than this world.
They are the fabric of Heaven and no human being can hold any of them as
his own. That water was not H20, it was
supernatural and could not be “bottoms up”.
It belonged to God because it came from Him. A Christian cannot measure the worth of her
life by what she possesses but only in what she gives over to Christ. It is astounding, the emptiness that so many
accept as normal. They hold onto all
sorts of things: their talents, their time, their social skills, their money
and their relationships all the while failing to see what wonderful things our
Lord might do with them if He had them.
In the New Testament we have the oft discussed account of Mary, a
follower of Jesus, who poured out an entire bottle of expensive perfume on
Jesus. While he was in Bethany,
reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman
came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She
broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were
saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume?”
(Mark 14:3-4 NIV) Indeed, what a great
waste! And yet the Lord’s reply reveals
what God thinks of such actions. "Leave her
alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a
beautiful thing to me.” (Mark 14:6 NIV) He went so far as to declare that what Mary
did would always be remembered and honored!
Have you ever done anything that could be categorized as eternally
unforgettable?
The very nature of God is to pour out His life for those who love Him and
those who hate Him, to die for the foulest of sinners and the most indifferent
of unbelievers. His life was the
ultimate waste. He was smart, holy,
good, creative, beloved and a leader. He
had every reason to live and do something with His life and He threw it away
for you and me. You might argue that the
salvation of the world was worth His life but that is because you are on this
end of it. If you were on the other side
of the Cross, you would have seen it much differently. The disciples did. Peter rebuked Jesus for insisting He would
soon die. For what?
If the nature of Christ is in you, then it is a part of your personality
to give up to God indiscriminately anything and everything just because you
love Him. There is no career, no home,
no retirement, no friendship or prized possession that is so big you must grasp
it tightly and keep to yourself.
Whenever you hold something and tell God that He can’t have it, you
shrink spiritually and become a smaller person.
But when you open your hands to Christ and offer Him anything and
everything you have, the size of your life grows into a supernatural one. God takes everything you give Him and makes them
is God-sized and God transformed. We
look at some of the things we do as menial, as trivial, insignificant and
unnoticed. When Christ is a part of
them, He sees them another way. He
considers them sacred. You have the
opportunity at each moment to become one with God, to live in the vastness of
the Holy Spirit. Open your hands and
offer Him whatever you have there.
Christ who is holy will make it holy and you will have joy in exchange.
