But Martha was distracted with
all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care
that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help
me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many
things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42
Remember Martha? She
was so busy with the secondary things of life that she almost missed a real
opportunity. Jesus reminded her that she
was distracted; she had lost the proper focus.
I commend Martha for her serving heart and I know Jesus did
too. But sometimes we serve to the point
we forget why we are serving and the service becomes more important than the
ones we are serving. We develop a
distracted or an unfocused heart. Matthew recounts a time when Jesus looked down
on Jerusalem and was troubled by what He saw. But when He saw the multitudes, He was
moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like
sheep having no shepherd. Matthew
9:36 Now there is a snapshot
of today’s world is there ever was one...weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Jesus referred Himself as the good shepherd. He is different from the other shepherds who
care only for themselves and not the sheep.
He knows that, left alone, a sheep will wander into dangerous and even
deadly places.
I am the good shepherd; the good
shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a
shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves
the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees
because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and
I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. John 10:11-15
The reality is, our hearts can become distracted with all
that the demands on us these days. It’s
not that the distractions of family, work or social obligations are bad; they
just are not the main focus of what God wants in our lives. What Martha was doing was good, kind and
socially proper; but it was not the time to be doing it.
Has Satan kept you from the feet of Jesus by filling
your life with distractions? Do you feel
like a sheep without a shepherd? It is
so easy to wander away and lose yourself in the demands of your personal or
vocational world. Beware! Jesus warned, The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly. John 10:10 God desires that our heart keep
its focus on following Jesus.
Scripture to Claim:
My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal
life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My
hand. John 10:27-28
