Learning
How to Take Hold of the Checkered Flag
Greek
Motto
You
will Break the Bow If You Keep It Always Bent!
We live in a
fast-paced society – yes, like sometimes our life is on a race-track. However, we can learn to react differently
and come out victorious…not only spiritually, but also emotionally and
physically.
Dr. Charles Mayo of
the May Clinic said,” Stress affects the circulation, the heart, the glands,
and the whole nervous system. I’ve never
know a man who died from overwork, but many who died from stress.”
FACT: We all have stress!
Read with me in the
book of Luke as we see that Martha, like many of us, allowed her anxiety to
reach a breaking point.
But Martha
was distracted with all her
preparations; and she
came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister
has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
But the
Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried
and bothered about so many things; but only one
thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away
from her.”
Luke
10:40-42
Note her
reactions…
1.
She
assumed that Jesus didn’t care! “Lord, do You not care”
2. She blamed Mary for being
irresponsible. “my sister has left me to do all
the serving alone”
3. She tried to work things out her
own way. “tell her to help me”.
On the race
track of life it is essential to keep Jesus as our Top Priority in the midst of
all the distractions. I was once told --
What we do WITH Christ is so much more than what we do FOR Him. Very few things are as harmful to the Christ
follower’s life as trying to work for Jesus without taking time to connect and
talk with the Father. As John 15:5 tells
us, “apart from me you can do
nothing.”
When we feel stressed, overworked, or like Martha consider criticizing others, we had
better take a hard look inside at our own lives. Perhaps, have we been ignoring the Lord in
all of our busyness on that road of the “fast-paced” that we are living? Martha did not have too much work to do…she
allowed her work to distract her and pull her away from WHO matters the
most. The key is to have the right
priorities: Jesus first, then others, then ourselves.
Mary of
Bethany is seen 3 times in the Bible, and each time she is in the same place:
at the feet of Jesus. In Luke 10:39, she
sits at His feet and listened to His Word.
In John 11:32, she fell at His feet and shared her sadness. Then in John
12:3, she came to His feet and poured out her worship. It is vital for us all to spend time “at the
feet of Jesus” every day.
So, where
are YOU? Are you in the “kitchen” of
life – distracted by the deadlines, bills, responsibilities, or even ministry
commitments? Or… are you taking the time
be “at the Father’s feet”—taking time out to pray to our Father, to read His
word, and to fill up with the power that only comes thru Him?
Take hold of that Checkered Flag! Slow down and take time with the Father! When we can learn to put Jesus first and discover
the power that comes with prayer -- a power to not only change the world, but also
to change ourselves, then we will find that we have our priorities right, just
like Mary did. We will learn that when we
put down all our activities and all the busy things we do -- for ourselves, for
those around us, even for the church -- and we will learn to sit at the feet of
Jesus, we will learn to be in the presence of the Father. And this my friends,
will change us in astonishing and powerful ways!
Deliberately Decreasing Life’s Speed – Less of Me More of
Him,
Rick
