“Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.” (2 Corinthians 6:1 MSG)
This year, most of the apples in our backyard went to waste. I forgot to spray them with oil before the buds appeared, so many of them were wormy. A few of the trees also got infected by a fungus called cedar-apple rust. Even after all of this, there were plenty of good apples left. Every so often, I would pick an apple and eat it as I went for my walk. In previous years, I would take the time to pick, sort, and distribute these fruits to friends and neighbors. I would also spend hours processing apples for my own family’s use--skinning, coring, and slicing the fruits--baking and preserving. But I got too busy with other stuff this year, so I ignored the apples. Most of them just fell to the ground and rotted.
God has showered us with gifts of unmerited favor and access. Yet, most of us waste this precious grace. We yield to temptations of distraction, indulgence, and immorality. Our time and energy gets frittered away on personal ambitions and amusements. Meanwhile, the gifts that God has endowed us with are misused or ignored. They fall to the wayside, squandered.
Lord, help us not to take your grace for granted. Teach us to cherish your anointing, extract every precious drop, distill it down to its essence, and use it for Your purposes.
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