What You Leave to the Next Person

I pulled into the place where I go to pretend I’m serving my family homemade food and fresh vegetables –thank you, Panda Express.

One of the parking places had a 42-ounce soda cup sitting right in the middle of it. Who would leave that sitting there?

When I came out of the restaurant I argued with myself.

You should pick that up.

People will think you are weird.

But somebody should pick that up and throw it away –if not you, then who? 

But what will people think when they see me go pick up that cup and throw it away?

So I didn’t. (And who were all those “people” I thought were watching me?)

Tonight I looked for a parking place at my son’s high school, and the space I pulled into was littered with McDonald’s wrappers. This time I bent over and picked up two burger wrappers, one apple pie box, a few muddy napkins, and a straw paper. Carried them into the school and threw them away.

No people seemed to care.

As I sat waiting for my son’s choir concert to start, I pondered why I cared about the soda cup and the McD’s wrappers.

It’s because I was the next one.

I was the next one to pull into the space, and the garbage was a yucky welcome.

How many times are we the person who follows after another? The next one in the shower. The next one to fill a coffee cup. The next one to need toilet paper. We sure want the guy in front of us to think about us, yes sir.

But do we think about who is coming after us and what we’re leaving for them?

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  (Philippians 2:14 NASB)