Mary or Martha?

Luke 10:41-42 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her".

In this story, Mary had the attitude, "I can eat later; right now Jesus is talking and I want to hear Him". More often that not, I find myself saying, "I can spend time with Jesus later; right now I have so much to do". How many times have I neglected fellowship with the lover of my soul when I hear Him whispering, "leave that behind and come away with me"?

Once again, I have busied myself with the temporary to the neglect of the eternal. I want to blame my attitudes and frustrations on everyone else around me even though it is really due to a lack of my own refreshing - not renewing my mind like I know I should. I have replaced my time of fellowship with Him with the works of my hands and therefore I have spent all of my strength. I often reason that I just don't have time but the truth is we all have time for what we MAKE time for.

I realized after a lot of reflection this weekend how very SELF-CENTERED my thought patterns have become, how sorry I feel for myself, how negative and critical I've been. I can say that I trust in the Lord when all of my circumstances are within my control, when all of my loved ones are acting like I think they should act, when my body is healthy and my job is secure, etc. I also realized how much work it is to maintain the appearance of anything....your body, your house, success, being "spiritual". We can be so busy keeping up the outward appearance that the inward part of us is a mess. Keeping up appearances drains us of the energy we need to change. Our culture rewards achievement and appearance, but God rewards faithfulness and substance.

If allowed, the demands and pressures around you will always usurp your priorities and disorder your day. Why do I continue to allow that? Why do you?