I can’t believe Christmas is two weeks away.  All of my intentions to have gifts bought and wrapped, and Christmas cards written and sent out have only partially been fulfilled.  What I’m left with is a pile of unwrapped gifts on the floor of my living room and really cool but blank Christmas cards still sitting in the box.  Honestly, where does all my time go??

 I read a really cool devotional today that addressed my life almost perfectly.  Remember the story of Mary and Martha, and how while Martha scrambled around to make everything perfect for Jesus, Mary plopped herself right at his feet and didn’t move?  Martha complained; Jesus complimented Mary.  Now in my mind, I ask, “Why?  Mary was actually being kind of lazy and didn’t seem concerned with hospitality.” 

But this devotion made the point that, looking at the broader picture, Martha was so busy that she didn’t even get to enjoy Jesus’s presence.  She couldn’t stop for just one minute to be with him, so she missed out on the fellowship and relationship she might have had.  So much of my life is like that:  I keep thinking, “as soon as I get this or that taken care of, THEN I’ll have time to set aside and spend time with God.”  But in light of this passage, that’s just as dumb as the person who says, “God, as soon as I get things in my life right, then I’ll become a Christian – I’m just not ready for you to see my life when its this messy.” So it’s no wonder that my “Martha mentality” has left me feeling more distant to God than closer.

As Christmas approaches, the same dilemma occurs:  we’re so busy with the preparation time that we don’t just sit at Jesus’s feet and absorb Him.  We can’t just “be still and know that He is God” (psalm 46.10) because we have so many other distractions.  Maybe we just need to have the faith to drop some of the tasks on our to-do list in exchange for a little spiritual r&r.