Nahum 1:14
"And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile."
Life is full of lessons. These lessons can come from the experiences of others, from history or from your own life. Whatever you do, you should never waste these lessons, for when they are wasted then you must learn the hard way.
Nineveh seemed to waste the lessons of history. One hundred and fifty years before this verse, Nineveh faced the judgment of God. A prophet came to this city and preached that God was going to destroy it in three days. That prophet was Jonah. When they heard the preaching of Jonah, the whole city got right with God and turned God's judgment into mercy.
However, Nineveh wasted that invaluable lesson. The verse above shows us that God was going to completely wipe them out because of their idolatry and wicked lifestyle. Verse 1 says, "The burden of Nineveh." This judgment was not something God wanted to do, but because they wasted the lesson of Jonah's day, they now must endure the punishment that God did not want them to endure.
Every Christian must be careful not to waste the lessons that God sends their way. The lessons you learn from other's lives should be engraved in your heart. When you see others do something wrong and see the results of that sin, let that be a lesson that you cannot get away with sin. When you see others do things and receive God's blessings, then let that be a lesson to teach you what God expects from you.
Moreover, don't waste the lesson of history. One of the greatest teachers from which everyone can learn is history. You have the privilege of studying history and finding the formulas for success and failure. It is often said that what we learn from history is that we never learn from history. Don't let that be you're mantra. Let history be the schoolroom from which you learn lessons that you apply to your life.
Furthermore, don't waste the lessons God personally teaches you. Every trial you face is a lesson from God. Endeavor to learn the lesson that God is trying to teach you and apply its principles to your life. Learn the lesson from your own failures and don't repeat the failing actions. Don't let the lessons in your life be wasted lessons.
Friend, when you waste these lessons, you waste time that can be used to do more for God. The reason God allowed you to learn these lessons is so that you can save time and build from the foundation of these lessons. Be careful that you don't waste these lessons and think that you know more. Many lives have been ruined by prideful thinking that throws away these lessons to carve their own path. You don't need to carve your own path, you just need to walk the old paths that have worked. You can either waste these lessons and have to learn them all over again, or you can learn from them and let God use you to go further than those before you. What are you going to do with history's lessons?