BETRAYED BY BUSYNESS 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. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40 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. 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. I had a hard time deciding whether to call this message "Distracted From God " or naming it according to the idea of "Busyness". Obviously, I chose the latter, since I believe that title includes distraction. My main point is that as we progress towards the end of this age - and who can doubt that conditions are in perfect order for God to close the age? - there is a multiplication of busyness that has distracted the whole world from the more important things of God. I suppose there are still a few areas of the world that are so far backward that they have not had the opportunity to get busyfied. But those areas are rapidly disappearing. We could explain the few places where things are still slower by pointing to the lack of Technology there. Certainly part of the blame for our busyness is Technology. Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.1 This is especially true with the younger generation. How many times have I pointed out how the enemy of our soul has used technology to perform the "Divide and Conquer" maneuver? As far back as the invention of the Radio, neighborhoods have limited their "Porching"2 according to programs on that wonderful invention. Then with Television, our time is being consumed exponentially. Add to this the personal gadgets like Cell Phones, Portable DVD players, MP3's and I-pods and pretty soon folks do not need one another. But even more divisive since WWII has been the division caused by the difference in housing occupancy. Prior to the 1940's, multiple dwelling houses were the norm. Families thought it was normal to live in a single house with Grandparents, Parents, Uncles and Aunts, and yes, even in-laws. This made it possible for the fulfilling of Titus 2:4 That they [The Older Woman] may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. When the "Greatest Generation" starting coming home from Europe and the Pacific after defeating the axis powers, a housing boom took place. Little boxes called houses were built all over the county. Every couple felt entitled to have a home of their own. Since then, division within the home has occurred like cell growth. From one complete family eating and being entertained by the radio and television, it progressed until every person in the family has their own television/DVD/MP3/cell phone/I-pod of their own, and contact is sparse at best. Watch when someone enters a room where people are watching the TV. Let them speak and they will get "sshhushshed" up quickly. The process continues in a vicious cycle as technology progresses and "cultural conformity" makes its own demands. Christians are more and more giving in to a culture of busyness. As we hurry to and fro, more and more distraction until some reach a breaking point where God Himself becomes a bother. This in turn leads to God becoming marginalized, which in turn leads to a deteriorating relationship with Him, and then we are more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, and finally to conformity to this same "culture of busyness" Christians have become Betrayed and Entrapped by this downward spiral of compromising their relationship with God, their Holiness and their ability to live their life as God has commanded that they do. As you continue reading this article, let me ask you to dedicate yourself to the proposition that God is entitled to have first place in your busy life. Your children are going back to school soon and it will be a massive job keeping Jesus as their priority. You will not succeed unless He is your first priority. Please do not misunderstand the incident recorded in Luke 10 above. Martha was doing nothing wrong by taking time to prepare for a visit by the Lord of Glory. And you would not be amiss by taking time to prepare the best you know how in service to your guests. He is not saying "spend all your time with Him", but rather He is saying "I must come first ahead of all those other things that betray you with busyness". If you allow Him to come first ahead of all those other things, you will find yourself "sitting at Jesus feet and hearing his word" Allow me to give you a few things to remember; Christians, like almost everyone else in the world, are beset with busyness. And we must set our priorities as Christians. Perhaps you are one of those folks that list important things "to be done" on a paper each morning. If you do, that is good, even if you only get to number 3 each day. But here is some additional advice; After you list the priorities 1 through 10, go back up to the beginning of the list and ahead of #1, across the top of the paper put "Attention to Jesus" Then you will be demonstrating an understanding of Luke 10:38-42 One last observation that struck me as I prepared this message. It was a simple little phrase in I John 2:6, "AS HE". That verse reads "he that says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk, even AS HE Pastor Hayden NOTES:
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