Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparation that had to be made. 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!”

Today is Father’s Day. Fathers are such a blessing to a family. They are a gift from God. Today is also the day that I publish my devotionals. I usually write them on Saturday but I was out of town yesterday so I decided I would write it this morning. But my folks are coming over today to celebrate Father’s Day, so I have been distracted. I have been grocery shopping and cleaning and trying to make sure everything is just “right”. So, when I sat down to start writing, my mind was all over the place. I asked God to give me the words to share with you and he said, “Mary and Martha”.

I went to the YouVersion app on my phone and typed in Mary and Martha.  I like to read the Message version of the Bible and this is what it said:

As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”  The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”

Believe it or not, both Mary AND Martha were serving the Lord in this story. Martha was serving him with her actions and Mary was serving him with her time and attention. Jesus did not berate Martha for being concerned about the food, he just wanted her to set priorities. Food will always be there to prepare, cook and eat but Jesus would not. He was passing through and what he was teaching would feed her for life.

Sometimes we are so busy doing things FOR Jesus that we are not spending any time WITH Jesus. In order to hear from Jesus, we need to spend time with Him. Just like any other relationship you have, it requires you to spend time together, to share your day with each other and to be open and honest with each other. I encourage you to remove yourself from distractions and to spend time with Jesus today.

Lord, thank you for wanting to spend time with me. Help me to make you a priority in my day. Amen.