He Will Have Our Hearts

Luke 10:38-42 ESV

 

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’”

 

Priorities and Distractions

 

I am going to take this passage of Scripture perhaps in a little different direction than I normally would, but I will include a link at the bottom of this to where you can read a devotion the Lord gave me to write on this passage earlier in the year, which might be a more traditional take on the lesson to be learned here. But there is an underlying message here that I believe the Lord wants me to deal with today, so that is where I am headed here.

 

So, what is that underlying message here? It has to do with priorities, and it has to do with who is first in our lives. And it has to do with distractions, too. And it has to do with who is truly Lord of your life. And it has to do with what is true worship of God in the eyes of God and according to the Scriptures. A lot of people have lots of different ideas about what constitutes true worship of God, and so that is what I’m going to talk about today.

 

Who gets top billing and top priority in your life? God/Jesus? Really? Does he truly? Or is everything else in your life first and he gets the leftovers, if there are any leftovers? Do you push him off so that you can do the things you want to do first (or only)? And then sometimes you have no time left for him? Are you loyal and faithful in your commitments to the things you want to do but not in what should be your loyalty and devotion to the Lord Jesus?

 

Too many people today are making professions of faith in Jesus Christ but they are still serving themselves and the flesh, and their god is their own stomach, i.e. their fleshly appetites are their god, and not God. So they end up worshiping the flesh and nature, i.e. the created things instead of God. They take pride in talent, intellect, head knowledge, technology, human accomplishments, and self, but they do not honor God with their lives.

 

So, they make the time to do the things they want to do, and they do not set the right priorities, and they live “by the seat of their pants,” i.e. by their emotions and by what feels good to them at the moment. And so they are easily distracted by the things of this world which then get top priority in their lives while God/Jesus, and perhaps spouses and children, too, get neglected and pushed aside. And in many cases their spouses and/or children are being sinned against in other ways, as well.

 

Who or What Has Your Heart?

 

So, who or what has your heart and devotion? It is who or what gets top priority in your life. It is who or what you are the most passionate about. It is who or what you think about and dream about the most, and what gets most of your energies. And now I will add here that I know people have to have jobs and jobs take up a lot of time and energies and thinking. And I know some people have small children, and the same applies.

 

But you can have a job and/or small children to care for, and although these will take up a great deal of your time and energy and thinking, still God can be in first place in your life, and he still can get top priority. For if your life is surrendered to him and to following him with your life every day, he will be the one directing your path and guiding you in your work and in the care of your children, and all will be under his command and control.

 

But how you live your life and the choices you make and the things you make priority and the distractions you allow in your life all speak volumes about who you really are and what you are about and who or what truly has your heart. And if you are still living in sin, i.e. if you are deliberately and habitually sinning against God and other humans, to do them harm, and without conscience or compassion, it is not God who has your heart.

 

Our attitudes, our words, and our actions speak volumes about who we really are and what we really care about and who or what it is that gets our worship and devotion and praise and priority. Definitely if you are holding on to sin and you have not let go, and if you keep making excuses for why you are still not free, perhaps after many years after professing Jesus as your Savior, then you need to take a good close look into your heart, for your heart is not the Lord’s but it still belongs to your flesh.

 

Jesus, and then our spouses and minor (dependent) children should get top priority in our lives. And if our Lord truly is in first place, then all else in our lives will fall into place where they ought to be. And thus we won’t be living for ourselves and for the pleasures of this world, and the flesh and the created things will no longer be our god, but God/Jesus will be our only Lord, in truth and in righteousness and in holiness. And he will have our hearts.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:26-27; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Songs in the Night  

 

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

 

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

 

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

 

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

 

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

 

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

 

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

 

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

 

https://vimeo.com/379484387

 

https://runwithit.blog/2022/01/02/choosing-the-good-portion/