One Thing -- A Matter of Priority

"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.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” -- Luke 10:40-42

Fast forward to our present time, as with Martha, we may be distracted from laying down what we are doing to be with Jesus Christ, our LORD and KING.

While what we are doing may be important, I would infer that our priority may at times be out of alignment with Jesus' priority. This is the Son of God who spent time regularly communing with His Father while going about doing His Father's business on this earth with a clear sense of purpose, determination, discipline, direction, dedication and devotion.

We cannot afford to be so busy that we have no time to spend in the presence of Jesus who is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We need to catch hold of this revelation:-

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!" -- Psalm 46:10

God is still God whether we take heed or not. But, if we retreat from our distraction and rest our soul, we will know that God is with us for real and He is more majestic and glorious than what we can ever think or envision. 

And, yes, God is certain that He will be exalted among all people and throughout the earth; every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is LORD!

It is time for us to draw near to Jesus daily and eat of His Words (spiritual bread and water) which are life and spirit. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." -- Matthew 11:28 

Let's take heed and make it a priority to accept God's Invitation To An Abundant Life as outlined in Isaiah 55:

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, 

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The sure mercies of David.

Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,

A leader and commander for the people.

Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,

And nations who do not know you shall run to you,

Because of the Lord your God,

And the Holy One of Israel;

For He has glorified you.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found,

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

And it shall be to the Lord for a name,

For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

It is well and good for us to come to Jesus and be blessed. When we come to Him, Jesus will speak His specific words for us which we could learn to well recognise like a sheep knowing the shepherd's voice. 

To the rich young man who had kept the commandments, Jesus had this to say to him:

"Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” " -- Mark 10:21 

God has no problem with us having wealth (look at Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), but we have a problem when we are possessed by our possessions. As explained by Jesus in Mark 10:23-31, it is hard for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God and the reason is that they tend to place their trust in riches (rather than God). 

But, with God, all things are possible. This means that with God, we can learn to trust Him and still be able to handle riches with proper stewardship; godliness with riches without losing our consecration. It is, after all, the love of money that is the root of all evil and not money, in and of itself.

May we soldier on to make our time with God (Quiet Time, church service, prayer meeting, etc) a top priority. We may then partake of King David's pursuit of God and godliness:

"One thing I have desired of the Lord,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord,

And to inquire in His temple." -- Psalm 27:4

Note: All Scriptures shown here are from the NKJV version.