One Thing

“You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary…”
~Luke 10:41-42

Prioritizing can be difficult. Managing your calendar, getting enough sleep, exercising… the list of things that vie for your time is seemingly endless. And time isn’t the only thing which requires prioritization. Day to day we triage situations and make snap judgments about what we will do or leave undone; what we will buy or leave on the shelf. And make no mistake: prioritizing is difficult when we’re faced with good and best, not good and bad. It’s not hard to prioritize sleep over hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. But sleep over working late on an important project… much harder to choose. 

You’re familiar with the story of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. When Jesus visits their home in Luke 10, we find Martha busily scurrying about preparing food, setting the table, and shuttling things hither, thither, and yon, while Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet. If we’re honest, we kind of feel for Martha. She is hosting the Lord Jesus! She wants everything to be tip top for His visit. She wants His appetite to be satiated, His back comfortable, and her home warm and inviting — she wants to show good Christian hospitality. Mary’s just sitting there! Can’t she listen to Jesus teach after the preparations are done and the food has been eaten? What would you have been doing if Jesus showed up at your home — preparing, scurrying, serving, or sitting? Be honest.

Before you answer too quickly, ask yourself this: how do I prioritize Jesus now? How have I, or will I, prioritize Him today? Do I set aside time from my scurrying to spend time listening to His voice in the Word? Do I spend time kneeling at His feet in earnest prayer? Do I prioritize gathering for His worship each Lord’s Day? Or do I find myself prioritizing my projects, my desires, my self?

Friends, Martha wasn’t wrong to prepare or to scurry. I would hope that if Jesus visited any of our homes we would have a comfy seat ready, some good food to share, and a glass of water waiting for Him. I would hope He would feel warmly welcomed. But that wasn’t the problem. Priorities were the problem. Martha prioritized the preparation and service over Jesus Himself. And this is so easy to do. We frequently love the gift more than the Giver; we often love the act of worship more than the One we are worshiping. Oh how foolish and small-minded we can be.

It’s a new year, brothers and sisters. It’s a fresh chance to establish priorities according to things of greatest importance. Sleep? Necessary. Exercise? Beneficial. Time with family and friends around a table? A beautiful expression of the communion of saints which we confess. Jesus? He’s the one thing that matters. And don’t miss this: Jesus doesn’t love us because we prioritize Him; instead, He loves us because He has made us His own, and it is this grace that reorders our loves around Him! So prioritize Christ this year (not a discipline, a method, or a posture — a person!). I promise you won’t regret it. And I expect that many of those other things will fall into their proper place anyway.

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor