For the past month I’ve been studying a story about Mary & Martha found in Luke 10:38-42:
Now as they went on their way, he [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
This story opened my eyes to what it looks like to have true intimacy with Jesus. I, like Martha, so frequently get distracted by work and life’s daily demands. I so often confuse duty with devotion and rituals with a relationship. I long to sit at Jesus’ feet, to have a relationship with Him, and to serve Him, but, in the past, I’d worry that if I gave Jesus too much time in my day, I wouldn’t get all my “to-do” list items checked off, which would spiral into more worry and anxiety. It sounds so silly verbalizing all of this, but this is exactly how my Type-A mind works.
I LOVE mornings. I love the sunrises; I love the weather; I love the quiet time; and I love the feeling of having a warm drink in my hand. My mornings have become the sweetest times of my day, but not because of the sunrises, the weather, quiet time, or coffee, but because I’ve started experiencing deeper intimacy with Jesus. Just like Jesus told Martha, I felt Him also telling me, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” And Jesus is that one thing. True fellowship with Jesus is the only thing I truly need. It’s why we were created. Instead of stressing about life’s daily demands, I’m learning to fill my day with activities that nurture and grow my relationship and intimacy with the Lord. I’m learning to surrender my schedule, my agenda, my time, and my desires. I’m learning to leave the “kitchen” long enough to experience the intimate fellowship that comes only from sitting and actually living in the “living room” with Jesus. Those sweet couple of hours that I have truly sitting at Jesus’ feet in the morning have become the most precious part of my day, but I’m also learning that those sweet moments don’t have to end in the morning when I step away from my Bible, my journal, and my time of prayer. My intimacy with Jesus has given me an overflowing heart for the Lord and His people. By having constant communication with Jesus and an overflowing heart, my time with Jesus has grown from morning to night and all times in-between.
I’m learning that this intimacy and closeness is something that God designed us for. It makes us new moment by moment. One of the most amazing things about spending time with Jesus is that the more time we spend with Him, the more His image begins imprinting itself upon us and the more we begin absorbing His character. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I close to being like Jesus, but by spending time with Him I am slowly being shaped, chiseled, and challenged like never before. My patience, compassion, humility, and love for others has grown like never before.
Intimacy with Jesus is also teaching me about the quietness and stillness that comes only from God’s peace. God created us to experience quietness and stillness in Him because, like Samuel, we are able to hear God’s voice in the quiet of the night.
We were created for abundant fullness in the Lord. In order to reach that abundant fullness, I’ve learned that intimacy with the Father must supersede anything else in my life because intimacy with Jesus overflows and produces fruit in all other areas of our life – relationships, ministry, work, everything! The purpose of the great treasures we find in a relationship with Jesus is to then be poured out into other relationships and acts of service.
John 15:4 & 5 gives a clear image of this. It says:
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
For so long I focused so intently on the fruit of my own life and completely missed the connection, the sweet intimacy we can have by being attached to the vine. When a branch produces fruit, it’s the trees nutrients that do the work – the branch just has to stay connected! Staying connected is the one thing that is needed.
One of the most amazing things about the story of Mary & Martha is that the same place that Mary found at Jesus’ feet, is available for you and me. When we give our lives to Jesus, we can sit at His feet knowing that we are completely known and completely loved and we can be transparent and vulnerable and still be called spotless and righteous. Jesus came down to Earth to show us the way to His father’s house, to invite us to live in His father’s throne room. It’s a true home that we’re invited to dwell and abide in. That is where you’ll find me 🙂
Thanks so much for taking time to read my blogs! I will post an update soon about what my team and I are doing in Romania 🙂 HINT: new team, 2,500 New Testaments, gypsie ministry, and building relationships with Muslim students!!
