The One Needed Thing

As Christian women, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, we all know the struggle it is to make time each day to spend alone with the Lord. We all battle with feeling pressured, rushed and anxious. We never seem to have enough time. There are just not enough hours in the day. We’ve all said it before, and we’ve all felt it.

William Penn once said, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”

We can become plagued with guilt over not having enough time to spend with our families, with our husbands, on our careers, on our hobbies. But what about not having enough time to spend in quality time alone with God?

Can we ever really say, “I don’t have enough time?”

Who decided how many hours in the day we needed? God. Who directs the sun and the moon and their risings and settings? God.

So, who are we to say we don’t have enough time? We know that it is a matter of choice and it’s a matter of priorities and what or who it is we put first on our list. We make time for what we love. Read that again. We make time for what we love.

We all know who and what it should be. God is to be our highest priority. God must be our first love. He must be at the top. He must be the one we run to before anyone else. God is to be the foundation we build all other relationships on.

In our all too busy lives, we often neglect our relationship with the Lord. It gets put on the back burner. Yes, we’ve been redeemed, and we trust the Lord to supply our needs and protect our families. We give thanks for our food, we go to church, but how much time do we really give to God each day? How much time do we spend in prayer, in study, in reading His Word? How much time do we spend each day, quietly meditating on His Word, listening for His voice, pouring out our hearts to Him?

For any relationship to flourish, we must spend time on it. If we want a closer relationship with God, we must spend time talking to Him in prayer, learning about His character through the Word of God, listening, waiting, obeying, loving and learning from him.

I have many favourite women in the Bible that I love to read about, but two women I find very relatable are Mary and Martha. Mary’s heart and Martha’s hands. Yes, for most of my Christian life, I was more of a Martha than a Mary, but I’ve come to realise that both are needed. But, although they are both needed, there is ‘one thing’ that is needful, more than any other.

Luke 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

In this passage we see the ‘one thing’. What is the ‘one thing’ you must do today? What is the one thing that is needed?

As mothers and wives, we are often pulled in every direction. We have huge to-do lists. And the things on our lists are often very important, but the one thing I need to do today, the most urgent thing on my list, is to keep my relationship with God a priority. To sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from His Word.

That one thing we need to do today and every day, is to pray and read the Word of God.  We can’t physically sit at Jesus feet, as Mary was able to do, but we have His Word, and we have the wonderful gift of prayer and being able to talk to God.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The Bible tells us in Matthew that we are to seek God first. First. Before our to-do list takes over. In order to develop a closer relationship with the Lord, He must be the one we go to first. And not only first, but regularly.

I love the verses in the Bible that encourage us to come to him often.

Psalms 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Even the Lord Jesus rose early to talk to the Father

Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

In the morning.

Psalms 119:62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

At midnight.

I often find that the wakeful times I experience in the middle of the night are some of my most profitable prayer times. There is nothing to distract me from communing with the Lord. Like the saying goes, “When you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep, talk to the Shepherd”

Martha often gets a bad rap, but she was very hospitable. Jesus didn’t usually come visiting alone, she had to serve the disciples as well and often a myriad of curious onlookers and followers. She was a hospitable host. Running back and forth serving. But the Bible tells us she was cumbered. It’s not a word we use much in our modern language, but a word I can absolutely relate to!

Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving

In the Greek, this word cumbered has the idea “to drag all around” or “to distract”. She was distracted and dragged down with much serving. MUCH serving. Would less have been more? Could she have done more with less?

Often, we are dragged down with much serving. Running back and forth, in and out, over and under and so it goes. We are run ragged. Stressed. Fretful. Anxious. Worn out.

But where do we find Mary? Mary is sitting at Jesus feet. It says that she “also” sat and heard His Word. So, others were sitting at His feet too. Why wasn’t Martha? Mary had chosen that ‘one thing’ that was needed, sitting at Jesus feet. Putting God first.                                                                

I have come to recognize that we need a balance of both Mary and Martha. Both are needed. There are times that we must be hospitable and serve others. We read of the Proverbs 31 woman and her servant’s spirit,

Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

and we know that God looked on her with favour, but we also read that a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised. And that fear has to do with reverence. Bowing down in worship before God.

Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

In the story of Mary and Martha, our attention is drawn to Martha’s hands and Mary’s heart. Both are necessary in a woman’s life, and both are needed. But the order is what is most important. We must first sit at Jesus feet, and then rise to serve Him.

Sitting, then standing. Priorities and progress.

The one thing we must do, is to put God first. Then everything else will fall into place. That doesn’t mean your days will be perfect. God orders our days differently to how we order them.

God honours our time and helps us to be more productive, when we come to him first. We don’t have to control the day’s events. Hand them over to God and let him decide what’s best. Let God prioritize your lists of to-dos. Give your lists to God. And give him your cares.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

We pour our hearts and our energies into our families, and that's a good thing, but is it the best thing? Whatever it is that we pour our hearts into, whatever occupies our thoughts or becomes a priority in our lives over that of loving God, is something we are putting above God and it is unfaithfulness and sin.

Putting our husbands above God or our children above God or our clean house or our careers above God, will always lead to disappointment.

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

God has set the order for our priorities. God first. Everything else afterwards.

When our relationship with God breaks down, our relationships with people, break down.

The one thing we need is God’s Word, and the one person we need to put first, is God.

Our relationship with the Lord is of great importance. God is the foundation we build our lives upon. It needs to be a strong foundation. Developing a closer relationship with Him should be our utmost priority.

Make God your priority. Make your relationship with Him the most important thing. Everything else will crumble around you if you don’t take the time to work on this relationship. The Word of God is your life manual. And don’t neglect prayer. Prayer and the reading of God’s Word go hand in hand.

Reach for that ‘one thing’ that is needful today. For just a little while, somewhere in your day, forget about the many things and work on that one thing. Put your cares aside and spend time alone with the only one who knows all your troubles and can carry all your burdens. Sit at Jesus’ feet and your time will not be wasted.