Redundancy

May 9, 2010

Sometimes I think that I must be a slow learner because the Lord has to use repetition to get me attention. He knows just how and when I need to hear the same thing again and again. Today's sermon was like that for me. It touched on the very themes that have been resonating in my heart for weeks. The title of the message was, "Do not give in to the pressure of the urgent." Basically it was a look at how we often fill our lives and schedules with that which is not very important or is not our job to fulfill. If I cannot ever say "no" when asked to help out in something, I will end up being over run with things to do, and really not doing so well in any of them. The final passage of the morning was what caught my attention because the Lord had already been talking to me about it -- Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus is with Martha and Mary and He points out that Mary has chosen the better option by choosing to sit at His feet. Martha, on the other hand, was busy running around the kitchen making dinner and being annoyed that her sister was not helping out. The pastor noted how our service for God will never be fruitful if it does not flow out of our communion with God.

Prior to the message I had been thinking of the passage in relation to the people around me and my relationships because I can easily become task-oriented and forget about building relationships. I found the sermon to be a good reminder of the most important relationship of all -- Jesus Christ. From my relationship to Him should flow my relationships with other. I found myself challenged once again to dig even more into pursuing intimate communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and then to take time for people. Details, work, etc... will always be here but people will not always be around. Over the past 2 weeks I have had the chance to chat with some people who were passing through in my life for only a short while. Even now there is a girl who I just met who I will probably only be around for another week or two. She does not know Jesus and she needs to see that I take time for her, to listen and to share in various ways. This afternoon I began to paint a picture of my faith and who Jesus is, but it is a conversation that I hope we can continue in the days to come.