Businesses are funny. They all speak their own dialect—a sort of modified English. Have you noticed? In the rail business, that thing a locomotive pulls down the tracks–it's not a train. Instead, they call it a “consist.” Funeral directors don't refer to dead bodies. They refer to them as “cases.” But the food industry has an expression that has always impressed me as being downright odd.
Look at the label on a package of gum and it will likely say, “Please dispose of ‘after use.'”
“After use?” Who actually “uses” gum? We chew it.
Imagine being with a group of friends and you whip out a pack of Dentyne and say, “Hey, anyone here care to USE a stick of gum?”
Now…look at a box of macaroni or a cake mix. Or a can of tuna. Chances are there's a label or a stamp somewhere that says, “Use by….” But…who “uses” food? Who runs around saying, “Boy, I'm so hungry I think I'll sit down and USE a big plate of macaroni?” We don't USE macaroni….we eat it!
I'm also intrigued by the other thing you see on food labels, “Best if used by…..”….and then there's a date. Rather ambiguous, don't you think? What I want to know is, just HOW bad is it after that date? Is it merely “not quite as good” or will one bite likely put you in the emergency room?
All kidding aside, this “use by” expression brings two sobering questions to mind:
First…what IS my personal “use by” date? Or put more bluntly, what's my expiration date? (Only God knows). But be assured, He has one. For me—for you—for all of us.
The second question: Can I be used? Just how useful am I to the Savior? Am I stale and out of date? Or am I fresh from having spent time with Jesus and His Word?
How useful are we to the Savior?