Choose What is Better

In last Sunday's sermon, we talked about becoming true worshipers of God and looked at two sisters mentioned in the Bible, Mary and Martha.  In Luke 10:38-42, we're told the story of how Jesus went to Mary and Martha's house.  It says that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made for the Lord while Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to what he had to say.  At the end of the story, Jesus said to Martha "you are worried and upset about many things, but few are needed - indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I think their story outlines a common danger for many of us.  Sometimes it's easy to get so caught up in "serving God" and doing "church work," that we actually miss our Lord's heart and presence in our lives.  We prioritize doing things over our relationship with Him.  This is especially true in the modern, performance-based culture we live in.  Henry Blackaby says, "It is good to want to serve Christ as an expression of love for what He has done for you.  Yet when your activity consumes your time and energies so that you have no time for Him, you have become too busy!  You may think, as Martha did, that if you don't do the work, it won't get done.  That may be true, but Jesus taught that your highest priority must be your relationship with Him.  If anything distracts you from that relationship, that activity is not from God.  God will not ask you to do something that hinders your relationship with Christ.  At times, serving God and carrying out His mission is the best way to know and experience God.  At other times, it is more important to sit quietly at His feet and listen to what He is saying."

This strikes at what often seems to be a problem in my life.  How about yours?  In the busyness of our everyday lives, and especially in our best efforts to serve God, may we learn to slow down, sit at Jesus' feet, and listen to Him.

God bless,
Pastor Darren