Sometimes it’s a good idea to move a worrisome problem to the back burner of your mind where it can slowly simmer till your brain comes up with a good solution. Many brilliant ideas have come to light in this way—you may even have used this technique to find solutions to some of your own problems. But there are other things which get shuffled away from the forefront of our minds because we can’t be bothered to give them attention. Some have let important matters slip their attention on the pretext that they’ll get to them when the time is right, only to find that time overtakes them and they are then confronted with massive problems.
We leave that patch of weeds for later on when our backs aren’t hurting so much. We let clutter gather in the dark corners of our garages. We put our taxes off till we’re in serious trouble with the IRS. We dump things in our clothes closets to be sorted out and put in their proper place after a while. Do you identify with this?
Some have shifted spiritual matters to the back burners of their minds and my experience has been that the younger the person, the more prone he or she will be to give religion a low priority; to push it away to the back of the mind; to put it on the back burner. “These serious matters,” we tend to think, “are best dealt with much later in life when my productive days have passed and I am retired.” Accidents with serious injuries and illnesses with debilitating after-effects can overtake anyone, and many a young person has ended up with little or no time left to repair the spiritual damage his or her life has suffered. We seriously need, then, to make sure that our spiritual life is on the front burner!
In the first place, parents are responsible for raising their children in “the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). A good Scriptural illustration of what this takes is given in the Old Testament where God says: “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be a frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Doesn’t sound as if God intended religion to be shuffled to the back burner, does it?
It’s important to realize, next, that spiritual matters need to be in the forefront of our everyday lives. “The mind set on the Spirit,” Paul says, “is life and peace.” He continues to say that “we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh … but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Romans 8: 6;13-14). Our everyday lives must demonstrate the fact that we are being led by the Spirit of God—that we are listening to and obeying God’s commands.
This will show in the way we raise our children and relate to our spouses. It will be seen through our performance at work where we are faithful, diligent, and productive. It will show in our concerns for the welfare of others in our community which lead us to be responsible, benevolent, and involved citizens. And it will show up specially in the depth of our religious involvement where we are regular in our attendance at every worship service and Bible study, we participate in the church’s outreach, and we give generously to the church treasury.
Is your spiritual life on the front burner of your life or do you need to shift there? If it’s already there, praise God! If not—move it!