Taste of Home magazine had an interesting article in January written by Meghan Jones. It was titled 10 Things You Shouldn’t Store On Your Kitchen Counter. Without reading the article, I just glanced at the 10 things she listed and on most of them, I thought, “Well, that’s your opinion.”
And it is her opinion. There’s no divinely inspired kitchen manual that tells you how to organize your kitchen. But as I read through her list and reasoning for each item, I wholeheartedly agreed on 9 out of 10 and the other seemed to be a matter of preference, depending on the size of your kitchen. Some of the suggestions from her list were: appliances you rarely use, mail, fancy dinnerware, canisters, spice racks, knives, olive oil, junk food, cleaning products, and electronics.
Reading through the list, I’m sure we all have at least one of those things on our counters and have never given it any thought. However, Jones gives valid reasons for cleaning the clutter from the counter.
Rarely used appliances and canisters: space hogs! How many cooks (male and female) wish they had more countertop space?? Now, if you have ample space, this might not be a terrible thing to do. But there aren’t too many cooks who say they have ample space.
Oil and spices: even ambient light and heat will quickly degrade the oil and spices, causing them to lose flavor and quality. They are best stored and will last longer if placed in a dark, cool place.
Dinnerware: dust collectors! You will have to wash them constantly, even though they haven’t been used.
Cleaning products: nothing says mmmm, mmmm good! like lemon pepper chicken that tastes like lemon Pledge or some other sanitizer or cleaner.
Knives: this is probably the one that is more optional, especially if you don’t have children. For those who do have little ones around, those tiny hands get curious and may be able to grab the knives when you aren’t looking.
Electronics: water plus electronics doesn’t usually mix well. Even if the device is far away, there is the potential for it to get splashed or something accidentally spilled on it, ruining the device.
Junk food: if left on the counter, what do you see every time you walk by? Oh, the temptation!! Get thee behind me, Satan! Hide those things. Get them out of sight. Put them in the back part of the pantry!
Mail: haven’t we all done this? You left a piece of mail on the counter, and it gets speckled with grease, drenched in dishwater, or gets laid on a damp counter surface, allowing the ink to transfer.1
Meghan Jones gives some sound wisdom and advice. A team of experts chimed in on this article, offering expertise and counsel from years of experience. Rather than resisting their suggestions, it seems worth considering.
Let me spin this a different direction. Have you ever had an older Christian try to give you some tips, pointers, advice, or counsel that made you say, “Well, that’s your opinion.” At first, it ruffles our feathers, and we might get a bit defensive. It isn’t long before the “legalism” word gets thrown down like a gauntlet and that sage wisdom is rejected.
First of all, before you drop the word legalism, perhaps you’d better understand what it means. Legalism is utilizing law to merit God’s grace. “Legalism exists when people attempt to secure righteousness in God’s sight by good works. Legalists believe that they can earn or merit God’s approval by performing the requirements of the law,” writes Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. “A legalist believes that their good works and obedience to God affects their salvation. Legalism focuses on God’s laws more than relationship with God. It keeps external laws without a truly submitted heart. And legalism adds human rules to divine laws and treats them as divine.”2 You can be a person with strong, solid convictions, standards, and preferences without being a legalist.
Second, many of the standards the older Christians have developed look at life through the lens of experience. They can “see” where something is headed and are trying to keep us from making some serious mistakes.
Consider the words of Ezekiel 33:1-6. “Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: (3) If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; (4) Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. (5) He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. (6) But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”
The watchmen see the sword coming and try to warn. I am not suggesting that every stand and standard from the past is automatically right. It must be backed up with Scripture. But, if the warning’s intent is to help us walk holy, separated lives, we would do well to consider it rather than dismiss it.
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (28) Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Colossians 1:27-28)
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
1https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/things-shouldnt-storing-on-kitchen-countertop/
2https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-is-legalism-definition-and-examples.html
