Choose the Better Thing ...Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her. LUKE 10:42 The choices we make every day have profound significance for all of eternity. We will make many choices in the 24 hours that are allotted to us. It is only when we can give God our lives day by day that we have chosen the better thing. Only God knows for sure what will present itself to us before it does. He is the only one that can balance us and keep us balanced so we will not be slothful in any area or be deceived. He is the only one that can truly prioritize our schedules and understands all that demands our attention where it will not be taken from us. The Word of God says that our works will be tried by fire and all that does not pass through Him as pure will be burnt up. My question is, how much of our time doing things for Him and for others are already burning up as I write this. WOW! That is a humbling thought! He is omniscient. He knows all. He is the Final Authority over all. When you read this passage of scripture in Luke 10:38-43, you may think as I did that Martha was doing a necessary job. She was serving Jesus, and then to think about Mary who was just sitting. We must see what God is saying to us here. It is not wrong for us to work and serve. God truly wants us to work and to do it with excellence, but also wants us to sit at His feet and to be still and know that He is God. He wants us to listen to Him. Mary was listening to Jesus. He was there. It was her utmost priority to sit at His feet and listen to Him. It was not Mary's sitting that made a difference; it was where she sat that made the difference. The other things would get done, but the first priority would be listening. Many times we jump into our day tackling the tasks without sitting with Him to get instructions first. No wonder our day can get pretty wild and full of frustration when we fail to give time to Him, the giver of time itself. He has the answers before we have the questions. Mary had passion for her Lord. Something eternal was in the making, but it was not in the kitchen. What was cooking in the kitchen would be gone in a meal. It was what was being prepared in the other room that would go on forever. Jesus tells Martha; "Martha, Martha, you are upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her." He brings His point gently home. Fellowship with Him is a matter of priorities. It is a choice. It is the better part of the meal life has to offer. It is in fact the main course. In the process of writing this Newsletter, I was stirred in my spirit with this particular passage of scripture, "Mary has chosen the better thing." God brought it to light in my spirit as I was listening to an elderly lady in our community. She had come by for a visit and to deliver a donation to Shiloh from her Church. She is full of life, and full of hunger for the "Bread of Life". She told me she was attending Discipleship classes at her Church and how hungry she was for God's Word. I looked at her and sensed her love for God. She told me of all the things she had to do that demanded her attention, but oh how she loved to learn and study God's Word. God spoke to me and told me to tell her, "Mary, you have chosen the better thing and it will not be taken from you." (By the way her name really is Mary) Shortly after this event, I was visiting with a friend. She was telling me of a particular circumstance in her life. It was not pleasant. It involved family. She had made a choice to do it God's way, regardless of what the cost. Her very words were, "I can not allow anything to come between my fellowship with Jesus". I looked at her and said, "You have chosen the better thing". God is teaching us all if we will but listen to Him. Choices are constantly before us. Will we choose the better thing? And what will produce the greatest investment for God? It was not wrong for Martha to want to serve Jesus. This was an excellent quality in Martha's character, however her timing was wrong. Jesus was saying His farewell speech. He was getting ready to face death, on a cross. His hour was fast approaching. Martha was mistaken, Jesus did not want food, He wanted fellowship. When Jesus knocks on the door to our Christian heart, It is for fellowship (Revelation 3:20). How utterly important it is for us, in these final hours, to hear His voice and to do what He says as we give Him our schedules and allow Him to prioritize them. I am reminded that God says" The steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord" (Psalm 37:23). The Spirit of The Living God is challenging us all to say everyday, "God order my steps. I give to you these 24 hours that you have given to me. Take it Lord and get the investment that will last for all of eternity for Your Glory". Guard my heart today from its many distractions that scream for my attention. Help me to fix my eyes on you. Not on my rank in the kingdom, as did the Disciples, not on the finer points of the Law as did the Scribes. Not on the sins of others as did the Pharisees, but on you! However You prioritize my many tasks Lord, may I sit at your feet first, and then when I arise to take care of many things, may I practice Your Presence with me, and do all that I do as unto You. May it be our life ambition Lord to hear you say 'Well done thy good and faithful servant you chose the better thing, and It will not be taken from you'." Debbie Fondren