October 23. Are You A Recycler Or Refuser?

As a leader, one balances the use of resources. But some leaders have access to many resources and can acquire whatever they might need by making an ask for it. But other leaders must give more attention to resources because they are limited.

If resources are limited, we might be more engaged to maximize every drop of value from them. This condition of limits can morph into the attitude and mindset of the leader and team. As a leader, do you try to remove every drop of energy from your resources?

If you do that to your team, it certainly could create issues? Think about the people on your team. Do you want them to transition to their personal life without any level of energy for those that they love? Do you want the transition to be lacking energy with any relationship away from your team?

Think about your physical resources? Is your time best spent by getting the last penny from your waste? If that is true, no one would pay a recycler to do their service. Do your clients want you or your staff to be concerned with cutting up waste paper into notepads?

Or might they want your focus on them and their issues for value? Where might your team need to give less attention to getting the very last drop? Where can your team insert a little more effort to provide what just might be a significant value?

As Christians, we have a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate recycler. He takes every one of our sins and renews us. They are wiped away and we are made new. We read in the Old Testament, “But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.” Jeremiah‬ 52:16‬ NLT‬‬.

The captain of the guard recognized the value left behind in the destruction. The vines had value still. He knew if cared for, they would produce fruit. But our Savior Jesus, can produce the most valuable fruit possible. He transforms the eternally lost into residents of heaven.

Where might you and I be spending energy in a manner that is not focused on our Savior? Even the captain saw the opportunity to save the fruit of the vine. All he had to do was ask some folks to tend to it. Surely, we can be in some relationship with others so that our Savior can share his fruit.

Where is our attitude dismissing others as not being worthy of being saved? Where are you overlooking the opportunity to share the best fruits we know of? When we continue to allow that attitude to reside in our hearts and minds, we might be allowing the heart to remain hardened and the mind to be polluted.

What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days? ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Let us pray, Jesus, thank you for restoring each of us. We know that sometimes we act in ways that are self-serving and unloving. We know that you have paid the price for those actions, but we want to draw near to you in our relationships. We want to taste the flavors of your fruits.

We want our love to be exploding with living water, like an apple fresh from the orchard. We want the segments of our lives to grow like the segments of an orange or grapefruit. May it all be based around the center and core of you. We want the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Peel back the layers of sin like we peel the banana. Take whatever keeps us from you and remove it now. May we be the fresh fruit, the first fruits with you today. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen, ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬