Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me.
And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things."
--Psalm 131, Luke 10:41 (NKJV)
From the daily Bible reading on August 5, 2013 of Psalm 131; Luke 10:25-42; Ezra 2.
In the 131st Psalm, another of the Songs of Ascents, David declares that he does not act haughty nor think overly deep thoughts. We can certainly agree with the first of this as we picture the king playing musical instruments and dancing in the streets leading the procession as the Ark of the Covenant is carried into Jerusalem. As to the latter, he compares his demeanor to that of a child weaned from its mother. His soul is calm and quiet, he is not fretful or anxious. By keeping things simple, David's life goes smoother and he can remain calm.
This may be a lesson Martha should have paid heed to. Luke tells us of two sisters, Martha and Mary (whose brother, Lazarus, Jesus had brought back from the dead), and their visit from Jesus and His disciples one certain day. Martha was hustling and bustling about trying to prepare a meal for all the visitors and making their new guests feel welcome and comfortable, while Mary merely sat at Jesus' feet listening to His teachings. Martha grew quite indignant and practically demanded that Jesus tell her to get up and help with the work. But Jesus gently rebuked Martha, telling her that Mary was doing the right thing, taking advantage of being with and learning from the Master while He still walked among them. The Lord cautioned Martha that she was too caught up in the busyness of life to realize what is truly important.
We need to pay attention to these two brief character studies and how they affect us today. With round-the-clock news services and instant access to global information and current events, we can easily become completely inundated by matters both great and small. The big things can drag us down. Natural disasters and wars in far off lands captivate our attention. Scientists warn that a huge asteroid may someday strike the earth, wiping out all life as we know it. These and similar issues are huge and scary, but there is generally very little we as individuals can do about them. David says keep it simple, don't concern ourselves overly much with such great matters since we can have little or no impact on them. On the other end of the spectrum are all the little things that clutter our lives on a daily basis. Rushing around trying to get all our tasks completed, seeing to the needs of our families and our friends and ourselves, serving the church and maybe volunteering with a non-profit agency, these are all good and sometimes necessary but when added to everything else going on it can all just overwhelm us. Jesus says slow down and take a deep breath. Don't let all the busyness of life keep us from what truly matters. Let's spend time with Jesus while we can. Amen.
Dearest Jesus, thank You for showing us what we should keep our attention on. Please help us let go of those things that keep us from You. Help us ignore the little things and not dwell on the huge issues. Help us be calm and quiet in our souls, focused solely on You. In Your beautiful name, Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.
This may be a lesson Martha should have paid heed to. Luke tells us of two sisters, Martha and Mary (whose brother, Lazarus, Jesus had brought back from the dead), and their visit from Jesus and His disciples one certain day. Martha was hustling and bustling about trying to prepare a meal for all the visitors and making their new guests feel welcome and comfortable, while Mary merely sat at Jesus' feet listening to His teachings. Martha grew quite indignant and practically demanded that Jesus tell her to get up and help with the work. But Jesus gently rebuked Martha, telling her that Mary was doing the right thing, taking advantage of being with and learning from the Master while He still walked among them. The Lord cautioned Martha that she was too caught up in the busyness of life to realize what is truly important.
We need to pay attention to these two brief character studies and how they affect us today. With round-the-clock news services and instant access to global information and current events, we can easily become completely inundated by matters both great and small. The big things can drag us down. Natural disasters and wars in far off lands captivate our attention. Scientists warn that a huge asteroid may someday strike the earth, wiping out all life as we know it. These and similar issues are huge and scary, but there is generally very little we as individuals can do about them. David says keep it simple, don't concern ourselves overly much with such great matters since we can have little or no impact on them. On the other end of the spectrum are all the little things that clutter our lives on a daily basis. Rushing around trying to get all our tasks completed, seeing to the needs of our families and our friends and ourselves, serving the church and maybe volunteering with a non-profit agency, these are all good and sometimes necessary but when added to everything else going on it can all just overwhelm us. Jesus says slow down and take a deep breath. Don't let all the busyness of life keep us from what truly matters. Let's spend time with Jesus while we can. Amen.
Dearest Jesus, thank You for showing us what we should keep our attention on. Please help us let go of those things that keep us from You. Help us ignore the little things and not dwell on the huge issues. Help us be calm and quiet in our souls, focused solely on You. In Your beautiful name, Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.
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