38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations 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!” 41 ”Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
Are you ever distracted by all the preparations that need to be made? Me too. This world offers us hundreds of distractions each day. Things that we must do, ought to do, have to do. But in the end much of our business is not productive in the eternal realm. One of the foundational verses of the simple Christian life is John 15:5. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. “Like you I want to push back against the words of Jesus and point to all I’m doing to prove that I’m bearing fruit. But fruit bearing doesn’t come from working; it comes for resting; remaining in Christ. He is the vine we are the branches. Our job is to support and hold the fruit that he bears through us. I know it all sounds so mystical. So we ask what does this mean practically how does this look when I have work to do, kids the raise, and “ministry” to perform? After all; in all of these I’m serving Jesus, right? Maybe? All I know is that in the story Jesus commends Mary because she has “chosen what is better”. Notice it was an act of her will; she chose it and secondly Jesus didn’t tell Martha her work was bad, but Mary’s, it was better.
It is much better to connect with Christ that to work for Christ. Our work for Christ can turn us in the Legalist and Pharisees, but his work in us turns us into his children. Paul would later write, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1:6 (NIV) See it’s his work in us that makes us valuable not, our work for him. Yes we’re created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph 2:10), but that is the caboose. The train starts with his grace and the faith that draws us into fellowship with him (Eph 2:8-9). Stay connected to the vine. And if you are a Martha like me, STOP! Choose what is better; Spend time with the ONE GOD who is gentle and humble at heart (amazing). There……. You will find rest for your soul (Matthew 11:29)
Southern Miss lost to Middle Tenn. State last night in the New Orleans Bowl 42 – 32. The Eagles finish the season with the same record as last year; 7 Wins to 6 losses. I love coach Fedora and the enthusiasm he has brought to Hattiesburg good, but there are some bad, and some ugly issues that need to be addressed.
Fast forward to today. There is a ridiculous effort by some to take the word Christ out of Christmas. Understandably people, who don’t know the story behind the “X”, get upset when they see the word Xmas used. But to be honest with you I don’t even see people using X mas any more. The preferred saying/writing is “Happy Holidays”. I don’t have a problem with people saying “Happy Holidays”; using it in context to describing the time period of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. But when someone sends a card, email, or greeting in December, along with a graphic of a tree and a wreath and it reads Happy Holidays; I feel like it is an intentional effort to avoid saying Christ-mas.
Thoughts come at us a million times an hour. Work, school, spouse, church, kids, etc. These thoughts can make you feel anxious, nervous, angry, sad, happy, thankful, etc.
Every year I purchase a new Christmas album to liven up the Christmas spirit. I’ve gotten into purchasing individual songs from Amazon, but there is still something about having a case to hold that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. So I walked into our local Lifeway store with the intentions of purchasing another album, when I saw this one on the shelf. One of the things that I was looking for were original Christmas songs. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the old traditional songs, but to be honest they get old.
Played in the Snow with the kids
I didn’t get overloaded in the middle of a chapter. Secondly the content of the book is about Faith and Technology, two things that are near and dear to me. Finally it was a book that really made me think and taught me some things. In the end, I understand better how media (and its history) affects the way we see life, including God. It was very informative. And while I agree with some of the observations Shane Hipps makes, I don’t agree with how he applies some of his conclusions to the Christian community. Everyone should read this book.
