I need a show of hands today – how many of you reuse those ziplock plastic bags? That’s what I thought … only my wife raised her hand.

It doesn’t matter what size of ziplock bag. In fact, the other day Lily was putting away a large, freshly washed ziplock bag and exclaimed, “I really like this large size. They are so handy.”  How can you be attached to a bag?  Really!?

Now, I don’t have anything against ziplock bags. I use them all the time. But let’s get one thing straight: they are to be used and then tossed. The idea behind them is simple: easy disposable.

Did you hear me, Lil? They are disposable! But there we were the other day, washing ziplock bags. Six of them, all in one dish washing session. That has to be a record and there should be a law or at least a rule against it.

I hate drying those bags. I know it’s all in my head. I just see them as a convenience item, something to be used and then chucked … I mean recycled, that’s what I mean.

In fact, by using them over and over, we are probably preventing some great recycled plastic product from being made. Ya, because my wife likes to recycle ziplock bags, we may be slowing down the production of surgical tubing or vehicle air bags or something important like that.

I just don’t like drying those bags. They are not hard like a glass, plate or even a plastic container. They don’t feel like they should be washed and dried. They look all wrinkly  and worn after they have been washed, and sometimes, the zip part of the bag doesn’t work as well.

The week before, my daughter was home and was helping with the dishes. She looked at the bags on the counter and asked, “Do you wash these?” I turned, looked at her, shook my head and mouthed the word, “no”.  But somehow Lily heard that and said, “Yes, wash them please.”

My wife insisted. But six bags, that’s over the top. She had been away for a week and there’s no way I had been collecting them. I wondered if she saved them from her trip or found them in an airport somewhere and thought they might come in handy.

I dried them but I didn’t like it. Now, if the next time I see one of those bags, it’s filled with a bunch of raspberries, I guess I won’t mind having dried it. I love raspberries.

Here’s the thing:  There are many words, verses or whole passages in the Bible that you’ve read but don’t have a desire to read again. You don’t see their application, they don’t seem beneficial, or they may be downright disturbing. Don’t neglect those parts of the Bible as being disposable or not applicable. At some point, that passage may have some meaning to you (yes, even genealogies). You may find an uninteresting passage suddenly now has particular application to you when it never really did before. It’s all there for our benefit, so take advantage of ALL of it. Get the most out of God’s Word.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you wanted to dispose of but later found useful? Leave your comment below.