Be Devoted

Hi! A while ago, I did a post on Abigail, a woman in the Bible. Now, I’m doing a post on Mary. I know, there are quite a few Mary’s in the Bible, but the one I’m going to talk about today is in the story of Mary and Martha. Let’s do it!

No one can tell the story better than God, so here is the story taken straight from the Bible:

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ 

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed-or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” -Luke 10:38-42, NIV

As you can tell, Martha was concerned about all the housekeeping stuff, while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his teaching, fully devoted. As Christians, we should be more like Mary. Sometimes you just need to set aside all your other worries and things that need to get done, and instead just pause and sit at Jesus’ feet, then listen. I know we can’t literally sit at Jesus’ feet right now, but we can spend time in prayer, and listen to God. How do we do this?

1. Grab a journal, Bible, pen, and highlighter, then go find a quiet place -like your closet!

2. Start by praying - you could pray the Lord’s Prayer if you want! Right now, it’s just time to connect with God and praise Him.

3. Ask that God would reveal Himself to you, and fill the space you’re in. Next, ask Him to speak to you or show you something.

4. Listen. Put aside all your thoughts related to things you need to get done, and concerns, and just listen to God. You need to have faith that God will speak to you too. If you’ve been sitting there for a bit, and he hasn’t spoken, read Psalm 23 or another passage of Scripture. This isn’t a formula to get God to speak to you or anything, but focus on just learning something during this time and connecting with God. Bask in His holy presence

5. If you felt a nudge, an inner-knowing, or a Bible verse pop up in your brain out of nowhere, write it down, then thank God for speaking you. Then, act on it! If you didn’t feel any of those things, just be patient. God’s timing is perfect, and he will speak to you sooner or later if you seek Him, know Him, and pray about it. I promise.

Now I’m not saying that Martha was a bad person. She surely wasn’t a bad person, and had great intentions. She wanted to make Jesus’ time at her home a pleasant experience, and Martha wanted to serve Him. I’m just saying that she got a little distracted from what matters most. But let’s not get distracted. Let’s seek out times to spend with God, learn to know Him more, and sit at His feet.