S200P5 – Who we were: wasteful
Tit. 3:1-3
Remind people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready and willing to do good, to slander or abuse no one, to be kind and conciliatory and gentle, showing unqualified consideration and courtesy toward everyone. For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
Everything is made for a purpose. Some things have more purposes than others. I remember being a teenager when two traveling salesmen came to our door. They wanted to sell my parents a vacuum cleaner that did more than just clean the floors. This vacuum cleaner could turn into a shampooer, a belt sander, a pressure painter, and a host of other things. With so much functionality, this machine did not sell for the same price as your run-of-the-mill dust collector. There was a premium on this vacuum cleaner because it did so much more. The hope would be that whoever owns it would take advantage of what it was made to do. If someone had bought this machine simply to have it but never use it, we might call that a waste. Before we became members of the body of Christ, this is how we treated our lives.
God created us because of love. He has given us many purposes in this world. We have the option to ignore that and simply use our lives for what we desire even if that means using our lives for nothing. We also have the option to respond to his prompting and begin to use our lives for the purposes He has designed. Today’s scripture makes it clear that living a life outside of God is a waste of that life. Living foolishly is wasteful when we were designed for wisdom. Living in disobedience is wasteful when we were designed to desire what God desires. Living in deception is wasteful when we were designed to learn and know the truth. Living with hatred is wasteful when we were designed to love. Coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ means learning why God has given us life and learning how to live purposefully so as not to waste that life.
There are many aspects of this life that are unpleasant and unenjoyable. We cannot say, however, that this means life is not worth living. If we understand that each of us was placed here for a purpose, life begins to have meaning. One of the greatest and most effective deceptions of the enemy is to convince humankind that we are a mere product of chance. If we have come alive out of a random cosmic coincidence, then this life has no value. But if we are here because someone intentionally placed us here for this time, then we must have purpose. Life then has value. Knowing this, it is our duty to make sure that we spend our lives fulfilling the purposes God has for us instead of wasting this precious gift. Father, thank You for giving us purpose in this world, and thank You for making a way for us to accomplish what You have planned.