Just a Thought

Last night, I was trying to make some instant mashed potatoes for a recipe and the water, milk, butter and salt mixture got really hot and I knew it would boil soon--but I thought it would take a lot longer, so I turned my back to do something else. Then--while my back was turned and I wasn't paying attention--the mixture boiled. And boiled. And boiled--until it boiled over on my brand new, shiny stovetop. It was such a mess! Even when I tried to move the boiling pot, some spilled over and the greasy white liquid was everywhere--even down the front of the oven. It was so baked on the burner that I had to wait for it to cool and carefully scrape it off the ceramic cooktop with a razor blade.

The lesson I learned is this: If I had just been more careful to watch my pot, I could have avoided this big disaster on my beautiful new stove. The clean up was very messy, time consuming and exhausting--and there are still some smudges I am going to have to work on later.

Sometimes, life is like that pot. We go on living our lives according to the recipe--doing all the things we need to do, but not taking time to order our inner worlds, not allowing ourselves sabbath rest, not spending time alone with God. Then we get distracted by all of the urgency that calls our names. And by the time we look back, our life is boiling over and becoming very messy, time consuming and exhausting. We have not taken the time to discipline our minds, our desires, or our children. What a mess we have made! Will we ever be able to clean it up?

Moral of the Story: If we keep an eye on our "pots", we can be much more effective and proactive--and clean up will be a breeze!

May our shiny, ordered lives reflect our Perfect God.

"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

I Timothy 4:16