The pace of life seems way too fast for me. I can't keep up with technology, and it seems my attention is scattered so easily. Every day, I get book deal emails for bargain books to read on my Kindle, and no sooner do I get started with one book when I get distracted with another. The same goes for surfing the internet, I can never seem to get my fill of everything on there that I want to absorb. Then there are movies, most of which I don't see, but if I decided to become a movie buff, I am sure I could devote the rest of my life to it.
Then I think about my interests. I love writing and need to devote time to that. Then I also love quilting and sewing, so much so that the hobby has overtaken my dining room. In fact, my whole house is filled with projects that drew my attention: whether it was a book to be read, or little collections, or even stuff for recipes I was going to make but did not get to yet.
When I homeschooled my kids years ago, I never felt like I could keep up with all I wanted to teach them, and all the new products for homeschoolers coming out on the market. I always felt as if I was a "day late and a dollar short." Yet the verse from Ecclesiastes speaks to the vanity of it all. All the work we do to keep up in the pace of our busy lives and yet our souls are still left hungry.
The longer I live, the shorter the amount of days are left to me. Yet what will I fill them with? If I try to keep up with the pace of technology and the latest and greatest inventions of man, I will only fall further and further behind. But yet, there is something far greater that calls my name, something I can only accomplish in this life, and not in eternity. That is, time to learn about my God and take in as much of His Word as I can.
That is not something that most people are seeking after. How easy even for believers to be distracted from keeping the main thing of our lives to stay the main thing of our lives. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14:
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
That is the main point. That is what matters. Everything else pales in light of that one thing. The enemy of our souls doesn't want us to realize that. He uses his many distractions so that we will not pursue that one thing that matters.
Martha wanted to serve the Lord. She was so busy preparing dinner for Him. It seemed to her that He did not care that Mary her sister wasn't helping her. She finally asked Him why Mary could not help her, but Jesus saw that Mary had the one thing that she really needed, and did not rebuke her for sitting at His feet and learning from Him. In the end, Martha was the one who was rebuked.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 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.” Luke 10:38-42
The only time I have to grow in my relationship with Christ is reserved for me in this life. Everything has been decided by the time I reach eternity. How I need to be reminded to number my days, that the Lord would give me a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
By knowing this, it helps me to be able to say "no" to some good things, in order to gain the best thing: growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (II Peter 3:18) I just read this morning in Matthew 7 that the way is narrow that leads to life. Pastor James Leake once told my husband (who was newly saved) that "the good can be the enemy of the best." In choosing my relationship with God over earthly things, it may seem to be a "narrow" and difficult road to follow. But in giving up my own wants for my life, I find soul rest, the thing that my soul is really craving for. The Psalmist implores us:
"Taste and see that the LORD is good! How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him!" (Psalm 34:8 NET) He alone will satisfy our soul's hunger.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry." (Matt. 11:28-30 NET version)
Help me Lord, to choose the "one needful thing" in this life, satisfying my soul hunger and so that I might grow in my capacity for enjoying the next life. Amen.
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