One Thing – Dorsey E. Marshall

                              “Don’t become so involved in the Lord’s work that you neglect the Lord of that work!” 

ONE THING

“But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

Being a person who is gifted in the kitchen and who loves to put together a nice meal for my guests, I can identify with Martha, who was trying to fix a nice meal for Jesus. There is nothing more frantic than your guests showing up early, while you still have a ton of last-minute details to complete. The ideal situation is you go crazy throughout the process, and then, when the guests arrive, you are cool, jovial, and quite relaxed. No matter how hectic the kitchen gets, you never want your guests to feel that their coming was an inconvenience. Poor Martha was frantically trying to prepare some food for the Lord. Mary was sitting in attention at His feet, soaking up every word. But, instead of being touched by that or joining her, Martha became angry. She wanted the Lord to reprimand her sister, because Mary was not helping in the kitchen. Then, to add insult to injury, Jesus essentially told her: “Martha, Martha. I appreciate your efforts. But there is a time to work, and a time to worship. There is a time to get out and do things, and there is a time to sit at my feet.” Martha could have gotten her feelings hurt by the Master, but instead, she got the message: “Martha, why don’t you come and do the same thing?” Notice in our text the two words that Jesus used – “one thing.” It reminds me of the words of King David, when he said, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:4. Then Apostle Paul said, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Philippians 3:13. In David’s case, it meant fellowship with God and His people. For Mary, it meant sitting at the feet of Jesus. For Paul, “one thing” meant moving forward, spiritually. For you and me, one thing we must do is come into a place of intimate fellowship with God. We can spend our days in a frenzy of activity, never reaching the goals God has planned for us. Are you busy being too busy?   LET US PRAY: “Father, forgive me for getting so caught up in the things of my life that I neglect You. I will establish my time that I will spend it with You, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”