Christian Living
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.......{Luke 10:38-40}
.......OH MY......just call me Martha! I would totally be the one running around in the background making sure everything was just right only to sit down just as Jesus said "Amen." In fact, this morning I missed my quiet time with the Lord. There was a ton of things on my to-do list and just as I would start one thing, I would find something else that had to be tended to. Allow me to illustrate: As I was doing the breakfast dishes, I bent down to pick up the towel I dropped and noticed the floor needed to be swept - I immediately dropped the dish rag and grabbed the broom; as I swept near the laundry room door, I remembered the items on the washer that needed to be pre-treated - so I traded the broom for the Shout; as I sprayed the jelly stains, I was reminded that the dishes were not done - I put down the stain-fighter and went back to the dishes; as I dried the dishes, I glanced down at the crumbs on the floor......I think you get the idea!! So there it was 10:30 AM and I had not completed one task in full. I was worried about all the other things that needed to be done while my Bible sat on the kitchen table unopened and unread.
I spread myself so thin every day that there is no focus in any area - particularly the area I need the most. It's become so bad that I'm completely fatigued and stressed out because I'm always busy, but I'm never 'done.' To make matters worse, my eye hasn't stopped twitching in a week!! I asked my husband to check my eye for anything that looked unusual because it seemed to be twitching double time today. I removed my glasses for him to take a look and......it stopped. As he looked at me ready to suggest it was all in my head, I said, "Huh...I guess when I focus on one thing, it just stops." And there was my "A HA!" moment of the week.
"Be still, and know that I am God...." {Psalm 46:10}
When we read the story of Mary and Martha, we tend to think Martha is a crazy lady! JESUS is sitting in your house talking and praying and you're in the other room preparing food and cleaning. Then you go to Jesus and demand help......who does that?? But in reality, WE ALL DO - every time we put something on our list higher than our God. Everyday Jesus stands right next to us waiting patiently for us to notice Him; interact with Him; give heed to His words. And very much like Martha, we often don't come into His presence until we need something.
She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." {Luke 10:40-42}
Before we do anything, we need to acknowledge the God of our Salvation as the Lord of our lives. We need to praise Him, thank Him, listen to Him and invite Him on the journey with us each new day. Don't let people, places and things take your focus off "the one thing that is needed." It's so easy to become distracted with work, family, home and activities, but we have to keep EVERYTHING in it's proper place. Heck, it's even easy to become weighed down with church activities, service and ministries! Even if "church" or "God" is in the title or description that doesn't mean you can swap out your devotional time for it!
So this week let's make a sincere effort to FIRST focus on God and building our relationship with Him. Everything else can wait!
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. {Matthew 6:33 NLT}
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