Now more than ever...
(Luke 21)
By Joseph Parker
What has your attention? What are you looking at? What is occupying the “stage” of your mind? What do you spend time thinking about, mulling over, reading, researching and giving consideration to? Is it what is in the news? The headlines, the matters that news commentators are discussing? Are these the issues and matters that consume your time and attention?
Cell phones, laptops, iPads, and video games all transport people into their own private worlds. People are therefore often oblivious to or at least highly distracted from the immediate world that they are in physically at the moment. Scrolling…scrolling…scrolling…along.
Topics, issues, events, tragedies, and celebrities often grab and hold the attention of many in our culture, world, and even church. Electronic devices, gadgets and the desire to get the latest version, too often seem to command and “control” much of our time and lives.
In Luke 10:38-42, we find an interesting story in the life of Jesus about a distracted person. He is visiting in the home of Martha and Mary. As many would expect, Martha is busy carrying out the responsibilities that a hostess was expected to do for guests (probably cooking, cleaning, and the like). However, her sister Mary was sitting down at the feet of Jesus. Listening to Him. Who was distracted, Martha or Mary?
The Word of God gives the answer very plainly. It says in verse 40, “But Martha was distracted…” To be distracted is to have your mind and attention pulled away from the more important thing or things. The Scripture in this passage lets us know that Mary is acting more wisely than Martha. Mary is commended, not Martha. Mary is acting wisely as she makes it her priority to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His word. But Martha was distracted. In other words, Martha’s mind and thinking were not focused on the more important thing in this situation which was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him, learning from Him, and simply spending time with Him.
A simple, yet profound truth found in this humble yet powerful story is this: spending time with God and seeking His wisdom is to be one of the high priorities of life for a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. Once we are saved, our most important goal in life is to faithfully and diligently run after God. Just, how do we do that? You run after God, by sitting at His feet every day.
We sit at the feet of Jesus by living a lifestyle of spending time daily reading and meditating on the Bible, by spending significant time in prayer and by obeying what we read and receive from God.
Knowing and following Him is living a lifestyle of faith. We are told in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Why don’t we seek to be wise like Mary? Why don’t we make it a goal to have a lifestyle of sitting at the feet of Jesus daily? Let’s run after Him by sitting at His feet, listening, learning, growing and following.
If we are not careful, we can allow the world to set our agenda and priorities as we listen to what it decides are the headlines of our times. If we focus and concentrate on what the world is focused on, we can miss God’s voice, His priorities, and His agenda. We can be living distracted lives and not even realize it.
As we live at the feet of Jesus, we will not live a distracted life. We will not live a life full of wasting time reading and learning about men who want to be women and people who want to change colors, what celebrities are wearing at a given event, etc. Instead, at Jesus’ feet, He can teach us what is important and what is not. He can teach us what is true and what is false. There He can teach us what’s right and what is wrong. There, we learn about what is in the heart of God. And know that staying focused on God-ordained priorities is not just important. It is crucial.
Seek to develop spiritual habits that help you to focus on God. Make them a part of your daily life. Read three chapters in the Bible every day. Pray daily, praying the Lord’s Prayer, praying the Ten Commandments, and praying about important issues in life. Obey what you learn from the Word of God. Spiritual habits help you to keep your focus on Christ and the will of the Lord.
Watch out for the weapons of mass distraction. They seem to be everywhere. Learn to focus your time, energy, and concern on what is important. Spend time every day running after the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t waste your time. Wasted time is wasted life. Sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him set your agenda rather than the world.
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