Waste not

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WASTE NOT

Prov 19:26

26 He who robs his father and drives out his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

NIV

This appears to be speaking to the issue of the prodigal son and his wasting all his inheritance and then not being able to care for his mother after the death of his father. But if that were the case, this saying has absolutely no meaning for women or for people in their older years of life whose parents have long been gone. What other meaning could the word son have which would bring this home to all of us?

Rom 8:14-17

14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,  Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

NIV

So then are we in that sense acting at times as the prodigal son toward God? Do we waste our inheritance of eternal life, chasing after the things of this world? Because we are co-heirs with Christ, we inherit all that Christ did. We inherit eternal life, we inherit the right to be called children of God. We also inherit the right to seat at the right hand of God. That seems strange to say, but according to the words of Jesus we will be on the right side of God.

Matt 25:31-33

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

NIV

The resulting action is from the words spoken by the King, God himself.

Matt 25:34

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

NIV

So then why would we want to waste this kind of inheritance by wanting the world’s way of life? Why would we want to bring shame and disgrace upon our Lord? Why would we act, behave or speak in any manner that would bring disgrace toward God? This idea of the mother has us perplexed to a point. There is a whole movement of religious people, who want to see God as mother. They are both non-gendering God as well as gendering God as a woman. They approve all the love, caring, gentleness, nurturing aspects of God as being feminine qualities, thus saying men are incapable of them. Yet the point still remains as children of God, he then is our parent. However parent strikes each of us, he is still the parent, which could incorporate all aspects of earthly parents, except far more. Earthly parents are flawed, God is not. Thus when we drive out God, it is in the sense that we drive away his provisions for our life. This is seen when we depend on our own knowledge, our own supposed wisdom, our own abilities or skills or for that matter, our own spirituality. Let us not rob God from being our all in all, our refuge, our strong tower, our provider, our protector, our teacher, our all in all. Let us not waste our inheritance nor turn or tune him out.