Bible League: Living His Word But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.— Luke 10:40 NIV Jesus and His disciples were spending some time in the house of Martha and her sister Mary. Martha took it upon herself to take care of all the preparations that had to be made, but Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him. Martha complained to Jesus, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" Jesus answered her by saying, "Martha, Martha... you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:40-42). Are you like Martha, always ready to serve? Are you always ready to take care of any preparations that have to be made? There's nothing wrong with that. It's good to be a servant. In fact, all of us are called to be servants (Luke 22:24-30). Our lives should be lives of self-sacrificial service. The Apostle Paul tells us, "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship" (Romans 12:1). The problem with Martha, then, was not her service. The problem with Martha was that she allowed her service to distract her from what was really important. Martha got so caught up in the preparations that she was unable to appreciate the better thing that was in her house. She was missing out on the Lord Jesus' presence and His teaching. It didn't have to be that way. She could have done both. She could have listened to the Lord as she got things ready. She could have refused to allow fretting and worrying about the preparations to distract her from appreciating the better thing. Let us examine ourselves and follow Jesus' admonition. Refuse to allow fret and worry to have a place as you serve the people you're called to serve. The Lord may not be sitting in your living room right now, but you can commune with Him just the same. You can commune with Him while you do your work. Indeed, it is your communion with the Lord, the Lord your help (Psalm 121:1-2), that will make everything you're doing that much easier. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Kings 1, 2 1 Kings 1 -- David in Old Age Anoints Solomon as King NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 2 -- David's Charge to Solomon; David's Death NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 22:54-71 Luke 22 -- Preparing the Passover; Jesus Arrested, Disowned by Peter NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Using a dull ax requires great strength,so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed. Insight Trying to do anything without the necessary skills or tools is like chopping wood with a dull ax. If your tool is dull, you should sharpen it to do a better job. Similarly, if you lack skills, you should sharpen them through training and practice. In each situation, sharpening the ax means recognizing where a problem exists, acquiring or honing the skills (or tools) to do the job better, and then going out and doing it. Challenge Find the areas of your life where your “ax” is dull, and sharpen your skills so you can be more effective in God's work. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon.Whatever there may be of beauty in the material world, Jesus Christ possesses all that in the spiritual world in a tenfold degree. Amongst flowers the rose is deemed the sweetest, but Jesus is infinitely more beautiful in the garden of the soul than the rose can be in the gardens of earth. He takes the first place as the fairest among ten thousand. He is the sun, and all others are the stars; the heavens and the day are dark in comparison with him, for the King in his beauty transcends all. "I am the rose of Sharon." This was the best and rarest of roses. Jesus is not "the rose" alone, he is "the rose of Sharon," just as he calls his righteousness "gold," and then adds, "the gold of Ophir"--the best of the best. He is positively lovely, and superlatively the loveliest. There is variety in his charms. The rose is delightful to the eye, and its scent is pleasant and refreshing; so each of the senses of the soul, whether it be the taste or feeling, the hearing, the sight, or the spiritual smell, finds appropriate gratification in Jesus. Even the recollection of his love is sweet. Take the rose of Sharon, and pull it leaf from leaf, and lay by the leaves in the jar of memory, and you shall find each leaf fragrant long afterwards, filling the house with perfume. Christ satisfies the highest taste of the most educated spirit to the very full. The greatest amateur in perfumes is quite satisfied with the rose: and when the soul has arrived at her highest pitch of true taste, she shall still be content with Christ, nay, she shall be the better able to appreciate him. Heaven itself possesses nothing which excels the rose of Sharon. What emblem can fully set forth his beauty? Human speech and earth-born things fail to tell of him. Earth's choicest charms commingled, feebly picture his abounding preciousness. Blessed rose, bloom in my heart forever! Daily Light on the Daily Path Ezekiel 48:35 "The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there.'"Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, Revelation 21:22,23 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. • And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Psalm 17:5 My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped. Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. Joel 3:20,21 But Judah will be inhabited forever And Jerusalem for all generations. • And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the LORD dwells in Zion. Zechariah 2:10 "Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares the LORD. Revelation 22:3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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