There are 2 types of people in the world: those who believe in expiry dates on food and those that don’t. I don’t know which group you fall into but I do know this: if you’re the person who will sniff milk, go “it’s alright, smells fine” and goes ahead to make a bowl of cereal with it, despite it clearly being labeled as needing to be used 2 days earlier, then you are a reckless maverick.

I mean seriously?! The dates were put on there for a reason. The food companies weren’t just trying to fill up space on the labels. They weren’t stuck for what to put on the packaging and thought it’d be a good idea to make up some random numbers and throw them on there! If the food says “Use by 27th March” then I’m using it by the 27th March. Probably by the 26th.

I’ve had housemates who don’t believe in these dates and I admire them, with their brave disregard for their personal safety. I just don’t trust their food. I’m not advocating being wasteful here: freeze food, recycle, have a compost heap: be a thoughtful consumer.

Aren’t you glad that this isn’t how God thinks about us though? I know that my life sometimes looks like food that’s gone past its expiry date. Like veg that was once fresh but now looks a bit sorry for itself, I can feel wilted and tired. The blue mould of sin can start to show in my life. My words can smell “off”.

But God, “slow to anger and abounding in love”, doesn’t just chuck me away, my purpose ruined. The Bible tells us that “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” That means they can’t be withdrawn. You and I were chosen for purpose and destiny and life cannot change that.

Plenty of people feel like they “missed it”. Maybe due to age, maybe due to a circumstance or sin, maybe just because life happened and they got busy. But you are not a disposable piece of supermarket fruit. You’re a child of God, formed with a purpose, for a purpose and that purpose still stands, no matter what you’ve been through.