Yesterday I got to clean out my fridge! Yeay!!! Not really… I stood at the refrigerator door pulling out Tupperware containers with the trashcan to my right. Each time I’d open a container, drop the contents in the trash can, rinse out the container, and stick it in the dishwasher.
But the further I got back in the fridge, the more irritated I got with myself. `Renee, how did you forget about the spaghetti? You family loves spaghetti and this could have been an easy meal… but instead it is getting thrown in the trash can two weeks later…’
I forgot about the spaghetti because other left-over containers were put in front of it. Things we like less, but that got put in front because it was convenient.
Sometimes, my life starts looking like that refrigerator. Lots of good intentions left in the containers, but just completely forgotten about.
I meant to do the reading for that Bible study… but life got in the way. My kids needed me here. My job needed me there. I just ran out of time.
Well the truth is, I did run out of time, but not because I didn’t have time. I forgot to make it a priority. There is plenty of things I do throughout the day that are a waste of time… mindless scrolling through social media… mind-numbing games on my phone… reruns of television shows that I didn’t even really like the first time I watched them…
Yes, I forgot. But I forgot because something less important was put in front of it.
When life gets overwhelming, we tend to want to numb it, push it back. But as we push it back, we are forgetting the good that is right there. We forget fall into the arms of Jesus.
Yes, I forgot. But I forgot because something less important was put in front of it.
You may have the best of intentions, but that’s not enough. In Matthew 22: 28-32 Jesus tells a parable about two sons. The father asked them both to do work in the vineyard. One says no but feels bad, so he goes and does what his father asked. The other says sure, but never does it. Which one does the work of his father?
Likewise, we have a choice to make too. Will we do the work of the Father or will we let that work get pushed to the back of our lives and forgotten about?
Don’t forgot about the work of the Father because other, more convenient, things are put in front of it.