Thought of the Day !!

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. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. 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."

But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her."
                                                                    Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)

There's an old story about a factory in the Soviet Union.  It seems that there had been a lot of petty theft, so they hired a guard and placed him at the entrance of the factory.  This particular guard new all the workers quite well.  And so when a man named Petrovich came out with a wheelbarrow that had a bulky sack in it, the guard said, "All right Petrovich, what have you got there?"  

Petrovich replied, "Oh, just sawdust and shavings."

"Oh come on now.  I wasn't born yesterday," said the guard.  And he made Petrovich start to empty the bag.  Sure enough, all that was there was sawdust.  So he let him put it back in and go on.

Well this went on for a week.  And the guard, frustrated, finally told old Petrovich, "OK Petrovich, I know you.  You're as crocked as they come.  I know you're stealing something from the factory by carrying out these bags every night.  You tell me what you're stealing, and I promise I won't turn you in.  But I just have to know."

So Petrovich, who knew that guard was a man of his word, said, "OK, you're right.  I have been stealing from the company."

The guard asked again, "What is it then?"

And to this Petrovich replied, "Wheelbarrows."

The guard was so preoccupied, or distracted by what was in the sacks, that he failed to see that Petrovich kept taking home wheelbarrows.

Martha was distracted by work, that while was not unimportant, was also not a priority at the time.  She was distracted by her many tasks.  And this upset her, and led her to tell Jesus what he should do.  "Tell her (Mary) to help me."  

Jesus' reply is that that Mary has chosen her priority.  And this priority is Jesus.  Even the most important things of this world fail in comparison to growing our relationship with Christ.  So let us not become so distracted by anything in this life that we lose focus of what's truly most important.  

In the love of Christ,
greg