Too Much Of A Good Thing

The morning glory vine completely covered my day-lilies. Now, no
matter how hard I tried, I could not rip out the vine without destroying
some of the day-lilies as well.



Even good crops--and something as
beautiful as morning glories--can take over our garden if we don’t pay
constant attention, eventually crowding out other beneficial plants.



In
dealing with the vine, I was reminded about some of the good things in
my life which had inadvertently taken precedence over better things.
This subject is addressed in Luke 10:38-40 with the story of Mary and
Martha:



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's
ministry was important and good, as she served the Lord from a heart of
love. She opened her home to Jesus, and most likely, a large number of
his followers as well. If you've ever had a large number of guests
descend on your house at once, you know the logistics of doing so can be
overwhelming--planning the menu, making a grocery list, shopping,
cleaning, preparing the food--the list goes on and on. We can't help but
admire Martha for providing this service to our Savior and His friends (and perhaps even secretly wish we were more like her).



But
somewhere along the way her priorities became misplaced, and her
service took precedence over her relationship with the One she desired
to serve. Her busy-ness became more important to her than the person she
did it for.





If we're not diligent at keeping ourselves
in check, the same can happen to us. In fact, we can probably all point
to times when we've allowed it to happen. We get so busy doing good
things that our time with the Lord gets shoved to the wayside. We run
ourselves ragged in an effort to serve God, possibly in an attempt to
please or repay Him, our only communication with Him a harried prayer.





“Martha,
Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many
things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen
what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” ~Luke 10:41-42
(NIV)



Based on Jesus' response to Martha, I'm pretty certain
He would also rather have a time of intimacy with us than our frantic
service, a time where we shut out the world and communicate with Him on a
personal level. Our relationship with Him is truly the only thing
that's needed, and it will always be the better choice.



Father
God, at those times when we scurry around in a frantic attempt to serve
You, may we remember there is something better. Remind us to take the
time to sit at Your feet, so we can truly experience the only thing
that's needed--a close and intimate relationship with You. Amen.