There’s an old saying, “waste not, want not”. Well, sometimes we waste what we want or waste an opportunity that comes along. 

I was with a friend recently who is going through the process of looking for a new home. He told me he had seen a place that had everything he needed, but because he didn’t jump on it soon enough, he didn’t get it. 

I know it still bugs him because he talks about that place like the one that got away. He probably looks back on it like a wasted opportunity.

We have all wasted something we really wanted. 

… Like that ice cream cone that you were three licks into when it dropped on the ground. 

You were so into that cone that you used about 30 more pounds of press with your tongue when you took the next lick. And that did it. The ice cream toppled right off the cone like someone had put little tiny explosive charges around it and then hit the detonator. 

Boom! You are left looking down longingly at the scoops of ice cream covered in grit and sand. 

What a waste. 

The other week I told you that I’m a bread maker now. I baked my first loaf of bread and it turned out amazing (read about it here). The bread was great tasting, but I don’t eat bread every day. 

I have a regular breakfast routine Tuesday to Friday and it includes a half a grapefruit and a small bowl of hot oat bran cereal. It’s a pretty boring meal. 

But on the weekends, I treat myself. A half a grapefruit is still on the menu but, instead of the oat bran, I have toast. I usually have one piece with just butter on it and a second piece with peanut butter on it.  

I really look forward to those breakfast meals on Saturday and Monday mornings. Sunday I have my regular weekday breakfast – just a throwback to when I was pastoring.

I had made that first loaf of bread Saturday morning and I was pumped – not because of the breakfast but because I’d made the bread myself. 

On Monday I had toast again. It was all good. Then I went back to my regular weekday breakfast and forgot about the bread I’d made. 

It sat Tuesday through Thursday in the bread container on the counter. On Friday Lily looked at the bread and noticed it had lots of mould on it. 

Just as I was getting to the weekend to have bread again, it was no longer good. 

I had wasted what I wanted. 

Monday I should have sliced the rest of that loaf up and put it in the freezer. Through my neglect, what I wanted so much I had actually wasted. 

I guess a new loaf is in order for this weekend.

Here’s the thing: No matter who we are, we all want peace and hope and love. We look for these three things in many places. We look for peace, hope and love in people, in things and in experiences. Sometimes it works out and we get one or more for a time. But a guaranteed place to find them is in God. God offers us peace, hope and love through Jesus Christ His Son. Don’t waste the opportunity to get hold of what you really want. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where do you usually turn to find peace, hope and love? Leave your comments and questions below.

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