The Main Thing

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) “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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."”

The problem was that Martha was distracted by her preparations for the Lord. Incredible! She missed the fact that what she was offering to Jesus paled in comparison to what he was offering to her. How is it possible that Christ-followers up to this present time continue to miss this as well? It’s right there in the Bible! Jesus said to Martha and to us today that being distracted by him was better than all the other distractions and preparations that we do for him. He is the main thing. He is life, but just like the Pharisees, we so easily look to our doctrines and our religious activities for life. What could possibly keep us from gazing at Jesus, the author and distributor of life itself?! Why, as we go about the business of our day, do we not have to keep reminding ourselves to stay on task because we are so distracted by Jesus?

The easy answer is that we don’t know him very well. Oh, we may know a lot about the Bible, and we may have our understanding of Calvinism or Arminianism sharpened to a fine point. We may do a lot of church things and help lots of people. All of that is fine and good, but if his presence up and left us, would it make much of a difference? David pleaded with the Lord not to take His Holy Spirit from him. (Psalm 51) Surely if we knew the Lord better we would not be so in love with the things of the world. We would recognize how much more valuable time with the Lord is than anything else in life. Where are the Christians today who are pleading to spend more time with Jesus? Where are those who are calling out to Him and saying, “Lord, clear my schedule so that I can be with you!” Is it all just religion, or is there a desire rising from deep within somewhere that wants the main thing – to know the Lord? Where is the groaning of the Spirit within the spirit of believers that longs to be clothed with eternity? The last prayer of the Bible is, “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20) When does that become the prayer of the church? When does that stop being a nice table grace and become the main prayer of his people?

“Lord, we want to be with you. Come and be with us. Clear out our schedules. Blow away the distractions of this life and become our only distraction. Be the main thing of our lives. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.”