Only One Thing is Necessary | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Only One Thing is Necessary | Previous Challenge Entry
By Edmond Ng
08/01/11
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The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. But there's only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42 ISV)According to an article 'Death by Church Activities' published on June 27, 2011 at ShareFaithBlog.com, program-heavy churches look pretty awesome to many people because they are big, bustling, active, and energetic. There are events for almost every single demographic in the church with plenty of activities for everyone. Members give their time, effort, talent, and money to maintain the programs. By and by, however, instead of thinking of church as a body of believers, people tend to think of programs, services, activities, and the likes, which eventually lead to major spiritual decline.

Many Christians today spend more time keeping activities going than meeting the needs of people around them. Consequently, these people become disillusioned because their needs are not being met behind all the activities. Even if we feel we have done a great job serving the Lord, we need to regularly check ourselves to be sure we are not too busy spending time doing things that we forget Who we serve. Suppose our Lord visits us today, can we be sure we recognize Him or will we fail to receive Him (John 1:10-11)?

Busying ourselves in worthwhile Christian activities and causes is perfectly fine. However, if we become too distracted with all the preparations like Martha when the Lord visited her or too bothered by the many things and activities that need to be done, then all our efforts would be in vain. Martha, in her busyness, asked the Lord why He does not care that her sister has left her to do all the work by herself. Jesus in reply said, "Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. But there's only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her" (Luke 10:40-42 ISV).

That one thing Martha needs is what we need as well, especially if we like her are too busy serving till we forget the purpose and Who we serve—Jesus Christ. Like Martha, we need to stop spending too much time busying ourselves, and like Mary, we should choose to spend time with the Lord in building a closer relationship with Him. Unless we spend time with the Lord to learn from His word and talk to Him regularly, we can gradually lose our focus in our busyness serving Him and His people. We can also become spiritually dry if we fail to recharge and renew our minds (Romans 12:2).

Let us therefore while serving the Lord, be consciously aware Who we serve and for what purpose. Rather than keep ourselves too busy in activities or programs, let us always remember to do all things for the Lord, for the purpose of building up, training, growing, solving problems, and meeting the needs of the people. Without fussing about things that are trivial, let us do the needful and fix our focus on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith (Hebrews 3:1; 12:2).

Dear Lord, help us to stay focus on You in all we do, that we may amid the many activities and in our busyness not neglect to spend meaningful time with You. Keep our focus fixed on You Lord and draw us close to You that we may build up, train, grow, and meet the needs of others in leading them to a closer relationship with You. Thank You for renewing our minds and strengthening us Lord as we serve You willingly and joyfully without fuss or much ado.

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