WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
JANUARY 05, 2025
TOPIC: LET NOTHING BE WASTED
BY T. O. BANSO
“Wise people’s houses are full of the best foods and olive oil, but fools waste everything they have” (Proverbs 21:20 New Century Version).
When I was growing up, many parents taught their children not to be wasteful. They were not to waste food, water, writing materials, etc. These things were not abundant in families, so children thought that this lesson was because they had to manage the little available; many didn’t immediately understand that prudent management of resources was the right way to live, whether in plenty or lack.
In those days, when parents bought new shoes, clothes, books, school bags, cardigans, etc. for their children, they used them very well and passed them on to their younger ones. There was no wastefulness. These children grew up to be prudent.
Some children from affluent homes have the wrong notion that prudent people do so because of poverty. They believe that since they have abundance, they don’t have to exercise caution in using their resources. Such children will grow up to be reckless and bankrupt.
This folly is one of the reasons many people who once enjoyed abundance are now suffering in penury. It is the reason nations that once enjoyed economic booms are experiencing gloom. It is why some people, despite their huge incomes in the past, are now poor. Those who acquired some things sold them one after the other to sustain or finance their prodigal lifestyle or reckless living.
Prudence is not a discipline to be cultivated by only the poor; it is a discipline to be cultivated by all. A rich person who does not will soon come to poverty. Wasteful living will deplete his resources. We must not waste food, water, energy, time, money, and all God has given us. They are exhaustible. Whatever you waste will finish in no time. Be a wise manager of the things of the earth that God has given you to enjoy. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him” (Psalm 24:1 New Living Translation).
Proverbs 21:20 says, “Wise people’s houses are full of the best foods and olive oil, but fools waste everything they have” (Proverbs 21:20 New Century Version). The New King James Version renders it thus: “There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.”
Don’t be like some religious people who foolishly waste their resources and believe they can always fast and pray for fresh supply! As a parent, how would you feel if you give your son or daughter pocket money that should last him two weeks, but he phones you two days later that the money has finished, and there is no justifiable reason for that? Would you cheerfully give him additional money? Certainly not – if you want your child to become a disciplined and responsible person in life.
In Luke 15:11-31, the Bible tells the story of the prodigal son. He wasted his money on riotous living. In verse 30, his brother also refers to how he squandered on harlots or prostitutes the money he received from his father as his inheritance.
The shrewd manager in Luke 16, also wasted his master’s goods, and he was going to be fired for this (verses1-2). He was even going to cost his rich boss more losses. “And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers]” (Luke 16:8 Amplified Bible). One way to grow your money is to save and invest, not waste it (Luke 19:11-27; Matthew 25:14-30).
After Jesus fed a huge crowd of over 5,000 men, excluding children and women, with five barley loaves and two small fish, fragments were left. “So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.’ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten” (John 6:12-13 New King James Version).
Jesus didn’t say because everybody had eaten to satisfaction, the leftovers should be trampled upon or left there. That would amount to wastefulness. But Jesus said nothing should be wasted. The Bible does not tell us who was given the twelve baskets of leftovers collected. If they were given to the boy who had given up the five barley loaves and two small fish that Jesus multiplied, I don’t think anyone would have complained. On another occasion when he fed 4,000 with seven loaves of bread, seven large baskets of leftovers were gathered (Matthew 15:37; Mark 8:20).
How we use what God has blessed us with is very important. Wastefulness is one reason some never prosper or God doesn’t answer their prayers. God doesn’t want to subsidize anyone’s misuse of the resources He has given them. God is not a prodigal father; don’t be a prodigal son.
In the contemporary world, there is a concern about how people are wasteful, including wasting natural resources. There is, therefore, a focus on ensuring effective management of resources. There is the concept of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, or its variants.
Some wasteful countries are already facing the reality that the natural resources on which their economy is based will be exhausted if they do not diversify their economies. They must prepare for how they would live without these resources.
In your personal life, don’t be wasteful. This includes not wasting time. Manage your time well by avoiding laziness, lack of focus, procrastination, etc. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16 New King James Version).
Learn to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials. Reduce what can be reduced without diminishing the quality, result, or outcome. Reuse and recycle where and when possible. Don’t throw things away without thinking if they could still be useful. Also, teach your children not to be wasteful.
Jeremiah 18:1-4 says, “The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ‘Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.’ So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over” (Jeremiah 18:1-4 New King James Version). Note that the potter reused and recycled the same clay to form another vessel! He didn’t throw it away. Rather, he crushed the jar into a lump of clay and started over. Nothing was wasted. Let nothing be wasted.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I repent of the various ways I have been wasteful. I shall discipline myself to be prudent in managing all You have blessed me with.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
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