Use It Well

When I was a kid, someone once gave me a dollar and said, "Greg, if you will hold on to this dollar all day long and save it, at the end of the day, I will give you five more dollars."

I was pretty good through that morning. The afternoon came, and I had to wait until 5:00. At around 4:15, I couldn’t contain myself any longer and went to a drugstore. I even remember what I bought: a little skull head with a leather band. I remember that when I held it under a lamp and turned off the lights, it glowed in the dark. I also remember that it smelled like rotting eggs.

The person who gave me the dollar said, "If you had waited about 30 more minutes, I would have given you five more bucks. You could have had your little skull and all of this money."

I felt stupid that I had squandered my money.

The Bible talks about squandering something much more precious than a dollar:

This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 13:11–13)

God has given us life—a precious commodity. Every day, it is deposited into our account to use or to neglect. Use it well.