Ed, my neighbour next door, is currently on a crusade to save me from myself. When Ed heard I was taking an online college course that costs good money, he choked on his coffee. He is sure that to do such a foolish thing my common sense is either frozen or gone south. Ed stammered out his cynical disbelief with the words, "School is bad enough when you are forced to go as a kid, but to pay to go to school as a senior is just plain crazy. It is the same as you buying yourself a baby buggy to ride in - you don't need it or a college course in your 60s."
When I told Ed I really liked my college course and would be taking more in the future, he kind of panicked and tried to suggest some sane and reasonable ways for me to spend my retirement. He invited me to go ice fishing with him and suggested we could both sign up for the slot tournament at the casino in Yorkton. Ed's concern is that I could become even stranger than I already am. If I'm foolish enough to waste my money now, will I know any better in my 70s, 80s or 90s?
I told Ed that his concern for my welfare was almost touching, but I needed to waste my pension money as I see fit. Now, Ed is avoiding me because he does not want to hear anything about my wasteful, college course. It is not easy to please a neighbour, for invariably you do something they consider a colossal waste of time and money. You can only hope they'll like you anyway and I have found an odd time they do. Some people watched Jesus, thinking his actions were a waste of time only to find they became miracles.
Jesus went to a wedding at Cana in Galilee. A problem arose because the wine was gone, but the wedding was not over. Jesus' mother asked him to help and told the servants to do whatever Jesus asked them to do. Jesus had the servants fill with water six stone water jars used by Jews for their ceremonial washing. They held 20 to 30 gallons each. After they had filled the water jars to the brim, Jesus told them to draw some water out and take it to the master of the banquet.
It must have seemed like a waste of time for the servants, who knew they had just filled the jars with water. Yet, when the master of the banquet tasted it, he said to the bridegroom, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
Many things that others do can strike us as a waste of time, but we have a limited ability when it comes to seeing what is beneficial and what isn't. It seems nothing, not even a miracle, can change our opinion on what is a waste of time. Yet, thankfully, God is the master of turning our thinking inside out and upside down to let us know that some of the things we do are also a waste of our time.
