It is spring
Everything wants our attention
Our lives are filled with things that allow us to not be focused on what’s really important.
Luke tells us about an encounter at the home of his friend Martha.
Luke 10:38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
It wasn’t that Martha was doing a bad thing,
But it is a great picture of how quickly we can be distracted by even doing good things.
The fifth verse of the 23 Psalm describes a scene that we have available to us any time, any day, whenever we are willing to sit and eat.
Psalm 23:5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
This feast is more than just eating, you are across the table from The King,
Having a personal conversation with the Lord.
Then, our phone rings,
“Oh, excuse me, my friend, Ed, sent me a funny cat video…
That’s funny! Lol
Oh, look, I got an email, there is a flash sale at Cabelas!”
How quickly we let the enemy in and get robbed of what is important.
Same as Martha, we can go from being distracted by something to being consumed by it.
We say to the Lord, “I’ve got it figured out,
And we start telling God what He should do! What He is doing wrong!
We get distracted from Him by what we think He should be doing!
This is what happened to Job.
Chapter after chapter, Job defended himself, until the Lord had had enough and answered him!
(NLT)
The LORD Challenges Job
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’
12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.
15 The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!
When we begin to presume how God should do things, we get ourselves in trouble.
His ways are not our concern,
Isa 55:8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Knowing His heart is our concern.
Matt 6:31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Submerge yourself in the things of the Lord.
Do not be afraid to make your day busier by spending time with the Lord.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Seeds.
Verse 23 says,
23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Ask yourself, am I good soil?
Verse 22 says,
Matt 13:22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.
How easy it is for this to be us?
What makes good soil?
As a child…
Matt 18:3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
If we can’t seem to find time for the Lord, something else has to go!
In the 14th chapter of Luke, Jesus tells of a great banquet, but the invited guests seem to be too busy and don’t have time so they make excuses.
Luke 14:18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
In the ninth chapter of Luke, Jesus actually calls a man to follow him, but he has his own excuse.
Luke 9:59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
Meanwhile, it is understood that his father was still alive!
Excuses are easy, But excuses produce nothing!
Lock eyes with The King!
Don’t let go!