Sometimes here in the northern climes we tend to put off things until “good weather” had arrived (which might not be until late May where I live) thinking that we will be able to do it better then. While I don’t think that I can plant a garden under 3 feet of snow, I can plan what I want to plant. But then when “good weather” comes I have so much to do I don’t do as good a job as I would like to. And sometimes it seems that I am overwhelmed by what needs to be done, that I don’t do things that are very important because so many things are calling for my attention.
This relates to the term “Tyranny of the Immediate”. So often we attend to the thing that needs to be done right now (answering the phone call that turns out to be a telemarketer) instead of something of greater value (reading the Bible a little longer). Human beings are all affected by this and I certainly believe that I get caught up in this much too often. So, how do we counteract this? “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” This advice comes from Jim Barksdale, CEO of Netscape, later AOL. It was developed for a business application, but still rings true in almost every group, including families.
Parenting is a tough, exhausting job! As a grandparent, looking on at the complexity of the work involved, I can see how easy it was when I was a parent and now that I look on at other parents, to get caught up in this “Tyranny of the Immediate” and so miss doing some of the things that are of far greater importance. Ask a Christian parent what is the most important part of their responsibilities and they will tell you that it’s to raise a godly child who comes to accept the Lord and serve Him. Yet so often very little time is spent on that “main thing” due to the pull of the “immediate”. And there are certainly a lot of “immediate” things that we are subject to.
But parents are not the only ones who need to be reminded to keep “the main thing the main thing”. Often our careers seem to require so much of our time that we have little time left for the “main thing” which is our relationship with Christ. But it might be social or even church work that pulls us down. In education we are warned about curriculum drift which means gradually pulling away from the main objectives of the education. Even if those driftings are good studies, it’s not primary to the taught subject.
So what are we to do? How do we maintain focus? One of the ways is through Scripture memorization. First we have to know that the Bible is true. Our memory verses for this month address this: 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be equipped for every good work.
For the Little Ones, I would suggest that they learn just the first section: “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Groups 1 and 2 can learn the whole verse 16 and Group 3 can learn both verses 16 and 17.
I would recommend that each person, couple, and family establish what are the “main things” in your life. Do this through reading the Bible, praying, and talking with others.
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Lamp for my feet 