Luke 10 38-42 ; John 15: 4-6; Mark 1:35
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.
We are living in a busy age! Anyone living in this 21st century will testify to the fact that life is busy! Parents often talk about how they juggle multiple priorities, manage unending schedules – thanks to competing demands from career, home, children, etc. Businessmen work round the clock (sometimes unable to take vacations) to stay ahead of their investments and business deals. Even the school system these days is packed full of activities. There is no doubt that life has become increasingly busy in this century.
On a typical day, our schedule is infested with various activities under the following categories: urgent tasks, non-urgent tasks, important tasks, non-important tasks. We are thus faced with the challenge of allotting time to these tasks on daily basis. Given that we only have 24 hours in a typical day, we must have a criterion (or some criteria) for allotting time to these tasks. Note this: how we allot our time is the distinguishing factor between an achiever and a loser!
However, this article is not focused on teaching time-management skills; but rather on highlighting an important aspect of life which is usually neglected or rather crowded out by the ‘tyranny’ of our urgent tasks – spending time with God. In the story above, Martha was concerned with much serving; but the Bible says ‘one thing is needful’, and Mary has chosen that good thing which cannot be taken from her!
Notice the use of the word ‘chosen’? This means how we decide, to use our time, is our choice –and so the onus is on us to choose carefully, or make wise choices. It is very easy to be caught up in a busy schedule and forget the ‘one thing that is needful’ – this a common strategy the devil uses to keep us away from God; but the Bible says that without God, we can do NOTHING! So we must fight constantly and daily to include this vital component of life – time with God.
Jesus in His early ministry often withdrew to the mountain to pray, how much more us! It’s in the solitude of His presence that we are empowered to face the day. What urgent tasks are crowding your schedule? Have you made room for the ‘one thing that is needful’? Review your busy schedule from time to time, and ensure you have allotted time for God.