1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:03,680 Jesus came to the house of two sisters. 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,080 It was a house where their brother was Lazarus. 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,120 And so it was a family very familiar with Jesus. 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,720 And in fact, Mary and Martha and Lazarus were really Jesus closest 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,560 friends outside of the 12 disciples. 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,520 And when Jesus got to the house, excuse me, Martha immediately 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,250 went to work, you know, preparing the meal, taking care of 8 00:00:30,250 --> 00:00:30,570 everything. 9 00:00:31,130 --> 00:00:35,370 And in those days, the meal was central to hospitality. 10 00:00:36,250 --> 00:00:40,370 If somebody came to your house, you always had a meal, often 11 00:00:40,370 --> 00:00:44,250 giving them the very best food, showing love and admiration. 12 00:00:44,250 --> 00:00:47,730 That was part of the tradition and the culture of those times. 13 00:00:47,730 --> 00:00:53,010 And so Mary chose, though, her sister, instead of helping with that 14 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:55,810 meal, to sit at the feet of Jesus. 15 00:00:56,850 --> 00:01:00,810 Now, the scripture tells us in this story today that she sat at 16 00:01:00,810 --> 00:01:04,530 the feet of Jesus, which was the position of a disciple in those 17 00:01:04,530 --> 00:01:04,810 days. 18 00:01:04,810 --> 00:01:09,050 A disciple, you didn't sit in a chair and listen, you sat at their 19 00:01:09,050 --> 00:01:09,490 feet. 20 00:01:10,210 --> 00:01:16,050 And Mary was not simply resting while Martha worked, but 21 00:01:16,050 --> 00:01:18,610 Martha was in the kitchen making all this stuff happen. 22 00:01:18,850 --> 00:01:23,300 And Mary sitting there quite quietly listening to Jesus in the 23 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:26,820 other room or maybe the same room, I don't know, depending on 24 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:27,740 how the house was built. 25 00:01:28,220 --> 00:01:30,780 But Martha became terribly frustrated. 26 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:33,420 Mary wasn't helping her sister. 27 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:40,580 And Jesus asked, I mean, Martha asked Jesus to make her sister 28 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:41,660 get up and do something. 29 00:01:42,140 --> 00:01:46,940 And you can just imagine these two sisters kind of having his sister 30 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,040 direct argument like they could have easily over this thing 31 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,840 because Martha's knocking herself out and Mary essentially, 32 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:57,840 in her perspective, is doing nothing. 33 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,240 But Jesus gently told Martha that she'd become worried and she'd 34 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,880 become distracted and she'd become too busy about less important 35 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:07,600 things. 36 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,680 And Mary chose what mattered most. 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,750 And that's the story we're going to look at today about priorities. 38 00:02:17,150 --> 00:02:20,030 How do we choose the priorities of our lives? 39 00:02:20,590 --> 00:02:23,950 And how do we understand where to put our energy? 40 00:02:25,710 --> 00:02:30,350 Putting good things ahead of better things is what Jesus is talking 41 00:02:30,350 --> 00:02:31,070 about here. 42 00:02:31,790 --> 00:02:35,390 We usually don't get our priorities wrong by choosing bad 43 00:02:35,390 --> 00:02:35,830 stuff. 44 00:02:35,830 --> 00:02:37,870 I mean, most of us don't do that. 45 00:02:38,030 --> 00:02:42,290 We get them wrong by putting good things ahead of better things, 46 00:02:43,730 --> 00:02:46,210 and the better thing gets pushed out. 47 00:02:46,610 --> 00:02:49,730 The tension in this story is not between good and bad. 48 00:02:50,290 --> 00:02:52,850 It's between good and best. 49 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:59,290 And it's two people both wanting to follow Jesus and doing 50 00:02:59,290 --> 00:03:00,850 it in very different ways. 51 00:03:01,250 --> 00:03:03,050 Now the story's recorded for us. 52 00:03:03,050 --> 00:03:08,290 If you caught it last week about the end of the book there, 53 00:03:08,290 --> 00:03:14,030 when he said the many of these things were not recorded, but they 54 00:03:14,030 --> 00:03:15,430 tell about the story of Jesus. 55 00:03:15,430 --> 00:03:19,270 Well, there were many things about Jesus not recorded, but this 56 00:03:19,270 --> 00:03:24,590 one is recorded on Purpose in great detail because it tells us 57 00:03:24,590 --> 00:03:28,230 about a very important principle of being a follower of 58 00:03:28,230 --> 00:03:28,630 Christ. 59 00:03:30,390 --> 00:03:34,390 How to put the best things before the good things. 60 00:03:34,970 --> 00:03:35,690 So here we have. 61 00:03:36,010 --> 00:03:37,290 I'll break it down a little bit. 62 00:03:37,290 --> 00:03:40,970 Martha serving and Mary worshipping at Jesus feet. 63 00:03:41,050 --> 00:03:45,090 Two very different contrasts of two people trying to be followers 64 00:03:45,090 --> 00:03:45,610 of Christ. 65 00:03:46,250 --> 00:03:51,370 Martha is working and Mary is growing in her faith. 66 00:03:51,690 --> 00:03:58,210 Martha is managing the meal, being responsible, and Mary is meeting 67 00:03:58,210 --> 00:03:59,050 with Jesus. 68 00:03:59,770 --> 00:04:07,420 Martha is busy for Jesus and Mary is being with Jesus. 69 00:04:08,300 --> 00:04:15,260 Martha is doing something for Jesus, and Mary is allowing Jesus 70 00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:17,740 to do something for her. 71 00:04:19,340 --> 00:04:20,940 It's a pretty big contrast. 72 00:04:21,740 --> 00:04:25,500 See, the issue was not that Martha was doing bad things. 73 00:04:25,660 --> 00:04:27,580 In fact, she was doing very good things. 74 00:04:28,590 --> 00:04:33,390 Be it, she allowed something good for Jesus to become more important 75 00:04:33,790 --> 00:04:36,990 than her relationship with Jesus. 76 00:04:37,790 --> 00:04:41,230 And this story describes a lot of Christian people. 77 00:04:42,030 --> 00:04:44,910 We're trying to do good things, to build the most out of 78 00:04:44,910 --> 00:04:48,270 our lives, take advantage of the gifts and strengths God's given 79 00:04:48,270 --> 00:04:51,550 us to serve, to be in ministry, to do all kinds of things. 80 00:04:52,750 --> 00:04:57,600 And in the process of all that busyness, we can miss the opportunity 81 00:04:57,840 --> 00:04:59,840 to be with Jesus. 82 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:04,160 We focus on following, by doing. 83 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,920 Not just by doing, but by being. 84 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,240 We've got to be and spend time with Jesus. 85 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,840 And that's what the message of this story is recorded to help us 86 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:16,160 understand. 87 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:21,480 You see, spiritual lives do not deteriorate because we reject 88 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:21,920 God. 89 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:24,520 People don't do that for the most part. 90 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,160 But Jesus gets crowded out. 91 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,480 That's why our spiritual life suffers. 92 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:34,880 So we have class and we've got practice, and we've got rehearsal, 93 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,920 and we've got work, and we've got friends, and we've got relationships, 94 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,840 and we got social life and we got ministry. 95 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:43,480 And most of those things are not wrong. 96 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,080 There's probably nothing wrong with any of them. 97 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,650 But everything can't be first, everything can't be. 98 00:05:50,130 --> 00:05:53,730 Priorities are not simply what you say matters most. 99 00:05:54,690 --> 00:05:58,850 Priorities are what you consistently give your time to and 100 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:01,090 secondly, your best energy to. 101 00:06:01,810 --> 00:06:04,850 And that tells you where your real priorities are. 102 00:06:06,690 --> 00:06:11,810 Christ was essentially saying to Martha, look, there will always 103 00:06:11,810 --> 00:06:17,220 be another meal, there will always be another time, but Jesus 104 00:06:17,220 --> 00:06:20,300 won't always be sitting here in your house. 105 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:24,060 Mary recognized the moment. 106 00:06:24,380 --> 00:06:27,900 And most importantly, she recognized her spiritual need. 107 00:06:28,300 --> 00:06:32,060 That although she needed to help her sister, more importantly, 108 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:37,060 she needed Jesus and she needed to be in relationship with 109 00:06:37,060 --> 00:06:37,340 Him. 110 00:06:38,380 --> 00:06:43,080 You see, spiritual formation rarely screams for our attention. 111 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,560 Deadlines scream for our attention and demand it. 112 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,280 Phones scream for our attention. 113 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,440 Coaches scream for our attention. 114 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,200 Professors scream for our attention. 115 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,880 Work, family, they all scream for our attention. 116 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:03,400 But your spiritual life quietly waits until you purposefully 117 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,200 make room for for it in your life. 118 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:13,280 You probably all have seen this illustration of the jar and 119 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,640 the rocks and the sand and the pebbles. 120 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:17,960 Okay, you've seen that illustration. 121 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,680 You know, if you don't put the rocks in first before you put in 122 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:24,840 the sand and the pebbles, there's no room for the rocks. 123 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,360 And that was basically what Martha was dealing with here. 124 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:29,960 She hadn't put the rocks in. 125 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,290 She filled up her life with the sand and the pebbles. 126 00:07:34,090 --> 00:07:37,690 And so the thing that mattered most, she couldn't fit in the rocks. 127 00:07:38,090 --> 00:07:42,050 And her time with Jesus only fit in the leftover space of her 128 00:07:42,050 --> 00:07:42,330 life. 129 00:07:43,690 --> 00:07:46,090 You know, But I don't think that's the bigger problem. 130 00:07:47,210 --> 00:07:51,210 I think the bigger problem is most of us have too many big rocks 131 00:07:52,010 --> 00:07:56,210 and we've got an endless collection of pebbles, and there's 132 00:07:56,210 --> 00:07:58,610 just not room in the jar for everything. 133 00:07:59,970 --> 00:08:01,890 But we keep trying to cram it all in. 134 00:08:03,090 --> 00:08:04,050 So priorities. 135 00:08:05,170 --> 00:08:07,250 Putting good things ahead of better things. 136 00:08:07,490 --> 00:08:11,170 Martha was trying to do something genuinely good. 137 00:08:11,730 --> 00:08:14,290 See, in the story, Martha wasn't lazy. 138 00:08:14,770 --> 00:08:16,210 Martha wasn't selfish. 139 00:08:16,210 --> 00:08:17,410 She wasn't rebellious. 140 00:08:17,490 --> 00:08:18,530 She saw a need. 141 00:08:19,170 --> 00:08:20,810 We got to feed Jesus. 142 00:08:20,810 --> 00:08:21,810 He's come to our house. 143 00:08:22,130 --> 00:08:23,890 That is the culture of the day. 144 00:08:23,970 --> 00:08:26,530 You feed and you put on a banquet because of that. 145 00:08:27,820 --> 00:08:31,740 And there's something really admirable about Martha's dedication. 146 00:08:32,540 --> 00:08:36,300 I mean, Jesus is the one who said to serve, not to be served. 147 00:08:36,860 --> 00:08:37,940 It's so important to us. 148 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:41,460 We have it in the center of campus to serve, not to be served. 149 00:08:41,460 --> 00:08:42,779 We want to take that spirit. 150 00:08:42,779 --> 00:08:45,500 And that's what Martha was trying to do. 151 00:08:45,820 --> 00:08:51,660 Serving matters, doing good matters, holding up your responsibility 152 00:08:51,820 --> 00:08:53,420 matters, hard work matters. 153 00:08:54,500 --> 00:08:59,540 But the problem was her service began to crowd out her relationship 154 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:03,220 with Jesus, and she was feeling empty. 155 00:09:03,300 --> 00:09:07,140 And look at what begins to happen here in a little bit. 156 00:09:08,020 --> 00:09:12,900 You see, Jesus does not ask us to choose between worship and service. 157 00:09:13,860 --> 00:09:19,140 He asks us to make sure our service grows out of our worship. 158 00:09:22,220 --> 00:09:24,540 We serve in order to honor him. 159 00:09:24,940 --> 00:09:28,820 That's an expression of our love for him, not that he'll reward 160 00:09:28,820 --> 00:09:29,180 us. 161 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:30,700 That's not why we're serving. 162 00:09:31,100 --> 00:09:33,900 I saw a politician the other day who was interviewed, and they 163 00:09:33,900 --> 00:09:35,419 said, are you going to get to heaven? 164 00:09:35,419 --> 00:09:38,500 He said, well, I got to do better, more better things if I'm 165 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:39,420 going to get to heaven. 166 00:09:39,820 --> 00:09:42,380 No, it doesn't work that way. 167 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:47,210 Your better things will never be get you to heaven. 168 00:09:47,850 --> 00:09:49,610 It's not going to happen. 169 00:09:50,970 --> 00:09:55,450 You are going to heaven only by the redemption of Christ in your 170 00:09:55,450 --> 00:09:55,770 Life. 171 00:09:56,090 --> 00:10:00,490 The better things you do come out of your love for him and your 172 00:10:00,490 --> 00:10:02,650 love for the people that he loves. 173 00:10:03,050 --> 00:10:05,570 And that's why we do the better things. 174 00:10:05,570 --> 00:10:10,730 You see, we need both, but we need service that's rooted in worship. 175 00:10:12,340 --> 00:10:15,940 And if it's not rooted in worship, it just becomes chores. 176 00:10:18,260 --> 00:10:24,180 We can become so busy doing things for Jesus that we have very 177 00:10:24,180 --> 00:10:27,860 little time left for our relationship with Jesus. 178 00:10:29,220 --> 00:10:34,340 You know, years ago I was part of pulling together a really huge 179 00:10:34,580 --> 00:10:38,740 major international conference of key Christian leaders from all 180 00:10:38,740 --> 00:10:39,340 over the world. 181 00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:43,420 We met in the Philippines and we brought in like 5,000 people. 182 00:10:43,420 --> 00:10:45,180 This thing was incredibly expensive. 183 00:10:45,340 --> 00:10:49,220 All the top evangelical leaders of the world were there and 184 00:10:49,220 --> 00:10:53,100 I was privileged to be part of the leadership of that group. 185 00:10:53,420 --> 00:11:00,460 And we had the best speakers non stop for six days on all kinds 186 00:11:00,460 --> 00:11:03,940 of critical topics of evangelism and relationship with 187 00:11:03,940 --> 00:11:05,080 Christ and all that kind of stuff. 188 00:11:05,230 --> 00:11:05,470 Stuff. 189 00:11:06,110 --> 00:11:09,470 And I raised the money to make that happen as my responsibility. 190 00:11:09,790 --> 00:11:14,270 And one of my donors was the founder of Domino's Pizza. 191 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:18,350 And he had come to the event and a wonderful Christian guy. 192 00:11:18,670 --> 00:11:21,910 And I remember about the third day, he said something to me that 193 00:11:21,910 --> 00:11:23,070 absolutely shocked me. 194 00:11:23,230 --> 00:11:27,110 Now here we had speaker after speaker after speaker, the best speakers 195 00:11:27,110 --> 00:11:28,030 in the whole world. 196 00:11:29,230 --> 00:11:33,500 And he was coming out of the big auditorium and I stopped and 197 00:11:33,500 --> 00:11:35,220 I talked to him and said, tom, how's it going? 198 00:11:35,220 --> 00:11:36,100 Are you enjoying this? 199 00:11:36,100 --> 00:11:36,740 Yeah, it's great. 200 00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:40,980 He said, I just got to get away from this for a bit to spend 201 00:11:40,980 --> 00:11:42,100 some time with Jesus. 202 00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:46,340 Wait, this whole thing is about Jesus? 203 00:11:47,700 --> 00:11:55,060 No, he had to get away from that for his relationship with Jesus 204 00:11:55,060 --> 00:11:58,180 to be what needed to be filled back up. 205 00:11:59,190 --> 00:12:00,310 It's kind of amazing. 206 00:12:00,550 --> 00:12:04,670 We can be caught in the middle of wonderful Christian work and get 207 00:12:04,670 --> 00:12:06,750 disassociated from Jesus. 208 00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:10,270 And our relationship with him hurts even while we're trying to 209 00:12:10,270 --> 00:12:11,070 do all this good. 210 00:12:11,070 --> 00:12:13,110 And that's exactly what Martha got into. 211 00:12:13,830 --> 00:12:17,870 So we need to be careful when we're doing everything right on the 212 00:12:17,870 --> 00:12:22,390 outside, we can be spiritually running empty on the inside. 213 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:26,080 It's like your phone. 214 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,800 You can go all day all through the apps and all the stuff and the 215 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,760 things you do and you make it happen. 216 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,760 But if you don't periodically plug that into the power source, 217 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,880 it's not going to do any of the stuff it's supposed to do. 218 00:12:39,839 --> 00:12:43,520 You've got to periodically plug it into the power source. 219 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:48,280 And we've got to periodically make sure our relationship with Christ 220 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:53,060 is what it needs to be, not just our doing things for Christ. 221 00:12:54,580 --> 00:12:58,500 So we have a warning really? 222 00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:02,700 In this scripture, Martha's busyness begins to change her. 223 00:13:02,700 --> 00:13:04,100 And watch what happens here. 224 00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:08,820 Martha says, lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister 225 00:13:08,820 --> 00:13:11,460 just sits here while I do all the work? 226 00:13:12,980 --> 00:13:14,260 Watch the progression. 227 00:13:14,340 --> 00:13:18,530 Okay, Martha is serving, trying to do good things, and then 228 00:13:18,530 --> 00:13:19,690 she feels overwhelmed. 229 00:13:20,090 --> 00:13:21,850 And then she gets frustrated. 230 00:13:21,930 --> 00:13:26,850 And then she starts comparing herself to Mary, and then she gets 231 00:13:26,850 --> 00:13:27,530 resentful. 232 00:13:28,170 --> 00:13:32,650 And then she goes so far as to even tell Jesus what she should do 233 00:13:34,410 --> 00:13:35,610 should be the other way around. 234 00:13:36,570 --> 00:13:42,970 You see, when we're doing so much, even for Jesus, we become disconnected 235 00:13:42,970 --> 00:13:44,380 from our relationship with Christ. 236 00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:44,770 Christ. 237 00:13:45,090 --> 00:13:48,770 And so service can turn into resentment. 238 00:13:49,730 --> 00:13:53,570 And that's what we are getting warned about in this story. 239 00:13:54,690 --> 00:13:57,850 It begins with, I'm so privileged to get to do this for 240 00:13:57,850 --> 00:13:59,250 the Lord, whatever it might be. 241 00:13:59,970 --> 00:14:04,290 And then I have to do everything is the next phase. 242 00:14:04,290 --> 00:14:07,010 And then the next phase, why isn't anybody helping me? 243 00:14:08,050 --> 00:14:10,890 And then next phase, why didn't anybody appreciate everything 244 00:14:10,890 --> 00:14:11,410 I do? 245 00:14:12,190 --> 00:14:15,470 And eventually God, why are you letting this happen to me? 246 00:14:17,070 --> 00:14:20,190 This is a pretty important warning for Christians. 247 00:14:20,910 --> 00:14:23,150 See, you're trying to succeed, and you should. 248 00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:26,950 God's talented you and given you gifts, and you're trying to meet 249 00:14:26,950 --> 00:14:29,670 expectations, and you're trying to keep up, and you're trying 250 00:14:29,670 --> 00:14:34,430 to carry responsibilities, and life becomes a long list of obligations. 251 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:39,480 And that's when comparison takes over. 252 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,640 And that's when comparison starts to grip your life. 253 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:49,560 So you start comparing over grades, over friends, over relationships, 254 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,319 over athletic success or performance, success or appearance, 255 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,160 or somebody else had more fun than you did, or opportunities or 256 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:58,280 future advantages. 257 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,560 All these comparisons start to take over our life. 258 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,910 You see, what happened in the story is what. 259 00:15:04,220 --> 00:15:08,820 Martha stopped looking at Jesus because she was totally focused 260 00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:10,460 on her comparison with Mary. 261 00:15:11,180 --> 00:15:12,860 And that's where it fell apart. 262 00:15:14,140 --> 00:15:20,060 Temptation for comparison is strongest when our priorities become 263 00:15:20,620 --> 00:15:25,660 disconnected from the source of our power, which is Christ. 264 00:15:27,020 --> 00:15:28,940 Well, how does Jesus respond? 265 00:15:29,990 --> 00:15:34,070 Typical compassion, Total understanding. 266 00:15:34,550 --> 00:15:37,310 Here's what he says to Mary, to Martha. 267 00:15:37,310 --> 00:15:40,590 He says, dear Martha, you're worried and you're upset over all 268 00:15:40,590 --> 00:15:41,430 these details. 269 00:15:41,510 --> 00:15:44,790 There's only one thing worth being concerned about. 270 00:15:45,430 --> 00:15:50,790 Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. 271 00:15:52,390 --> 00:15:54,630 Now, Jesus knows Martha loves him. 272 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,000 Martha's not rejecting Jesus. 273 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,800 He knows that, but he's helping her see what's happening 274 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:02,880 on the inside. 275 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,080 When she gets so busy and doesn't have time for her relationship 276 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,920 with Christ, she gets too busy. 277 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,880 And when she gets too busy, then she gets worried, and then she 278 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,800 gets upset, and then she starts feeling pulled apart, and 279 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,600 then she Starts comparing, and then the resentment comes. 280 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,760 It's a natural progression. 281 00:16:22,540 --> 00:16:27,420 And it happens to all of us when we get disconnected in our relationship 282 00:16:27,420 --> 00:16:27,980 with Christ. 283 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:33,100 Jesus says there's only one thing worth being concerned about. 284 00:16:33,340 --> 00:16:35,900 Jesus is not saying there's only one responsibility. 285 00:16:36,140 --> 00:16:37,420 There are lots of responsibilities. 286 00:16:37,580 --> 00:16:41,340 He's saying there's only one relationship that matters most. 287 00:16:42,540 --> 00:16:48,720 There's lots that's important, but there's only one thing that matters 288 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:50,640 the very most. 289 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:58,640 Well, in our process of being followers of Christ, we are shaped 290 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,320 by his teaching as we move up the path to following Christ. 291 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:09,160 Jesus in this teaching, is teaching Mary and Martha and the 292 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,240 world to come because they recorded the story for all of us 293 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,259 about worship, about growing, about priorities, about resentment, 294 00:17:16,259 --> 00:17:17,299 about responsibilities. 295 00:17:17,539 --> 00:17:22,099 You know, Jesus is always teaching very weighty things about 296 00:17:22,099 --> 00:17:24,259 sin and eternity and transformation. 297 00:17:25,139 --> 00:17:29,059 But Jesus also teaches us some very practical stuff. 298 00:17:29,779 --> 00:17:31,859 He teaches us how to manage our time. 299 00:17:32,499 --> 00:17:35,939 That's also in this story, how to manage our time. 300 00:17:37,939 --> 00:17:42,820 Now, the only thing we all in life get the same thing of, the only 301 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:43,860 thing is time. 302 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:47,420 Now, we don't get the same number of years, but we all, at least 303 00:17:47,420 --> 00:17:49,620 in the day, we get the same number of hours. 304 00:17:50,340 --> 00:17:54,580 And the Bible is very practical when it comes to time management. 305 00:17:54,980 --> 00:17:58,980 And so I want to pull four ideas from the story about time management 306 00:18:00,420 --> 00:18:03,620 that also are being taught here that may be helpful to you. 307 00:18:04,100 --> 00:18:11,310 The first is this time management is about choices and priorities, 308 00:18:11,950 --> 00:18:13,230 not just a schedule. 309 00:18:14,110 --> 00:18:16,190 Choices and priorities, not schedule. 310 00:18:16,190 --> 00:18:21,030 See, Mary and Martha each made a choice about their priorities for 311 00:18:21,030 --> 00:18:24,510 that day, and their actions fit around that. 312 00:18:24,830 --> 00:18:26,590 Martha prepared the meal. 313 00:18:27,310 --> 00:18:29,390 Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. 314 00:18:30,590 --> 00:18:33,870 The most important things in life, the relationship with Christ, 315 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,560 is often the easiest to postpone because the schedule gets 316 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:39,520 overloaded. 317 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:46,320 It would have been easiest for Mary to go help her sister, but she 318 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,720 made a choice of priorities, not just simply because that was 319 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:52,480 impressing on the schedule. 320 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,720 Schedule gets loaded and the things that become important get 321 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:58,400 overlooked. 322 00:18:59,930 --> 00:19:01,130 You know, you're not going to cut out. 323 00:19:01,130 --> 00:19:03,370 You're going to go to class, you're going to go to practice, you're 324 00:19:03,370 --> 00:19:06,530 going to go to work, you're going to, you know, connect on your 325 00:19:06,530 --> 00:19:06,770 phone. 326 00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:07,930 You're going to be with your friends. 327 00:19:08,810 --> 00:19:12,010 And after you get all that done, is there really time for prayer 328 00:19:12,010 --> 00:19:14,570 and scripture and reflection and worship? 329 00:19:15,450 --> 00:19:16,410 Too often not. 330 00:19:17,690 --> 00:19:23,050 Because those things don't usually shout at us and say, hey, 331 00:19:23,210 --> 00:19:27,020 I've got to have your attention like a class does or a 332 00:19:27,020 --> 00:19:27,860 practice does. 333 00:19:29,140 --> 00:19:31,540 You see, Jesus didn't say the meal's not important. 334 00:19:32,580 --> 00:19:37,180 He just said, put the first things first, it doesn't mean you 335 00:19:37,180 --> 00:19:38,020 don't do the other. 336 00:19:40,180 --> 00:19:43,220 But the first thing is the priorities, not schedule. 337 00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:46,820 Second idea out of this scripture is that anticipation and 338 00:19:46,820 --> 00:19:50,020 planning, not reaction, is time management. 339 00:19:50,420 --> 00:19:50,680 If. 340 00:19:50,750 --> 00:19:54,990 If you can anticipate and plan rather than react to the moment. 341 00:19:55,550 --> 00:19:58,710 Jesus had been in Mary and Martha's house many times. 342 00:19:58,710 --> 00:20:00,430 This was not the first time he'd been there. 343 00:20:01,630 --> 00:20:05,470 And Mary anticipated that Jesus was coming back. 344 00:20:05,550 --> 00:20:09,190 And it seemed like what she must have said to herself is, when 345 00:20:09,190 --> 00:20:11,950 he comes back, I'm not going to go in there and help my sister. 346 00:20:12,030 --> 00:20:15,110 I'm going to spend time with Jesus because I don't know how many 347 00:20:15,110 --> 00:20:16,930 more times I'm going to get with him. 348 00:20:18,450 --> 00:20:19,650 So she planned it. 349 00:20:20,210 --> 00:20:22,610 She anticipated that it was going to happen. 350 00:20:23,170 --> 00:20:26,930 Martha, on the other hand, reacted to the urgency and the need. 351 00:20:28,130 --> 00:20:29,570 We got to get this meal done. 352 00:20:30,610 --> 00:20:33,890 Very different actions and very different results. 353 00:20:35,250 --> 00:20:41,330 If you will develop a pattern of anticipation about what's on your 354 00:20:41,330 --> 00:20:45,980 agenda for the weeks ahead, it will change how you manage your time. 355 00:20:46,860 --> 00:20:48,860 Now, I do this, I've been doing it for years. 356 00:20:48,940 --> 00:20:51,500 I operate in blocks of about three to six weeks. 357 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:54,020 I can tell you almost everything on my schedule for the 358 00:20:54,020 --> 00:20:54,700 next six weeks. 359 00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:56,140 I can't tell you much after that. 360 00:20:56,220 --> 00:20:59,340 And I can work back from that and tell you exactly what I got to 361 00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:02,860 get done when in order to hit all of those benchmarks. 362 00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:07,660 And I anticipate that for me, it works about six weeks. 363 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:10,140 Your schedule, it might work shorter than that. 364 00:21:10,540 --> 00:21:13,100 Maybe it's one week, maybe it's two or three, I don't know. 365 00:21:13,420 --> 00:21:14,500 But here's the key. 366 00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:15,980 You got to write it all down. 367 00:21:16,300 --> 00:21:17,820 Not in little scraps of paper. 368 00:21:17,820 --> 00:21:19,740 You got to write it down in one place. 369 00:21:20,380 --> 00:21:22,540 And then you've got to reevaluate it. 370 00:21:22,540 --> 00:21:24,740 Often the last thing I do every night before I go to bed, I 371 00:21:24,740 --> 00:21:29,100 have two pads at my chair where I kind of finish up the day 372 00:21:29,260 --> 00:21:29,740 every night. 373 00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:31,900 And one pad is tomorrow. 374 00:21:32,300 --> 00:21:35,700 And I only put things on there that will move the dial tomorrow. 375 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:38,750 I know exactly what those things are that to be done today. 376 00:21:38,990 --> 00:21:42,190 And then I've got the other pad that's laying out about three 377 00:21:42,190 --> 00:21:43,870 to six weeks ahead of time. 378 00:21:44,030 --> 00:21:45,790 I'm trying to anticipate. 379 00:21:45,950 --> 00:21:49,550 And if I can anticipate, I can get things done on time. 380 00:21:49,550 --> 00:21:53,390 If I just wait for the reaction of the moment, I'm always, 381 00:21:53,870 --> 00:21:55,790 always behind, and you will be too. 382 00:21:56,110 --> 00:21:58,270 And that's what Jesus is telling us here. 383 00:21:59,230 --> 00:22:03,680 Mary anticipated that Jesus was coming back to their house and 384 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,320 she made a decision Ahead of time. 385 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,720 She was going to make that the priority. 386 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:13,800 Well, the third thing we take out of this story on time management 387 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,760 is time management is discipline and focus, not emotion. 388 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,360 It took discipline and focus for Mary to not help her sister. 389 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:25,160 Can you imagine? 390 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,000 I mean, these women were close. 391 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,400 And to not help her sister, that was a pretty big deal. 392 00:22:31,910 --> 00:22:34,230 She loved her sister, she loved her family. 393 00:22:34,710 --> 00:22:38,070 She's the one who cried so much when Lazarus died and Jesus 394 00:22:38,070 --> 00:22:39,990 rose him from the dead or their brother. 395 00:22:41,430 --> 00:22:44,390 But Martha was caught up in the emotion of the moment. 396 00:22:44,550 --> 00:22:47,390 These people have come and I'm sure the disciples were with them. 397 00:22:47,390 --> 00:22:48,310 So it's a big group. 398 00:22:48,390 --> 00:22:49,390 All these people have come. 399 00:22:49,390 --> 00:22:50,430 I got to get this meal done. 400 00:22:50,430 --> 00:22:51,590 I got to make this happen. 401 00:22:51,910 --> 00:22:56,230 And you know what happens when you get your schedule set by emotion? 402 00:22:56,310 --> 00:22:58,490 You always make make the wrong choice. 403 00:22:59,370 --> 00:23:01,850 We have to decide ahead of time. 404 00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:03,450 There's no other way. 405 00:23:04,330 --> 00:23:08,170 If you know you need to study for a test tomorrow and your friends 406 00:23:08,170 --> 00:23:11,050 come in at seven o'clock tonight and say, hey, let's go eat, 407 00:23:12,250 --> 00:23:13,130 you're going to go. 408 00:23:14,010 --> 00:23:16,810 Unless you decided ahead of time. 409 00:23:17,130 --> 00:23:18,730 No, tonight I got to study. 410 00:23:19,610 --> 00:23:21,530 And then if you did, you can do that. 411 00:23:22,170 --> 00:23:24,850 You see, the emotion of the moment is always going to take you 412 00:23:24,850 --> 00:23:26,970 to the easiest thing to do. 413 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,640 The decisions take you to, and discipline take you to the things 414 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,560 that matter the very most. 415 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,040 If you wait till you feel like studying, it's not going to happen. 416 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:43,360 If you say, you know, the morning of class I'm going to decide 417 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:45,680 whether or not I'm going to go, you're going to miss. 418 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:47,840 You have to decide that ahead of time. 419 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,640 You know, the number one determinator of grades in college 420 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,320 is attend every class and don't touch your phone in class. 421 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,160 That's the number one indicator of grades in college. 422 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,360 Those two things, if you do that, you'll do well every single 423 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:00,640 time. 424 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,360 But you have to decide that ahead of time. 425 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,800 If you wait for the motion or the moment, you won't make that decision. 426 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,760 In the same way, you see, you have to think about time as a budget, 427 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,160 just like you do your financial budget and you only have 428 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:15,840 so much of it. 429 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,400 So what are the absolutes and then what are the discretionary things? 430 00:24:20,860 --> 00:24:23,980 And if you're having trouble with time, things I've recommended 431 00:24:23,980 --> 00:24:27,060 to people through the years, just keep a list for one week of 432 00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:29,700 everything that you do, how much time you spend on this, that 433 00:24:29,700 --> 00:24:33,060 and the other, and pretty soon you'll see it as a budget just like 434 00:24:33,060 --> 00:24:34,300 you would a financial budget. 435 00:24:34,300 --> 00:24:37,220 Where did I spend those minutes I have, and it will help 436 00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:38,460 you to readjust some things. 437 00:24:39,420 --> 00:24:42,980 And when you're looking about discipline and focus, my suggestion 438 00:24:42,980 --> 00:24:44,940 is do the hardest stuff first. 439 00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:48,040 If you do the hardest stuff first, it's amazing how much the 440 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,960 rest of the list takes care of itself. 441 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:51,960 And figure out how to reward yourself. 442 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,400 You know, some of you may not have long attention span. 443 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:55,880 I don't. 444 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,000 I get really distracted really easily and I want to do stuff. 445 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,800 So sometimes when I've got to do something, I'll say for 30 minutes, 446 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:04,680 I am not going to touch that phone. 447 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,040 I'm not going to do anything else. 448 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:07,240 I got to focus on this. 449 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,520 And at the end of 30 minutes, then I get to do that. 450 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:17,070 If you will create small times where you focus and then reward yourself, 451 00:25:17,310 --> 00:25:20,830 you can find that you can start to lengthen those times as 452 00:25:20,830 --> 00:25:22,110 you mature and develop. 453 00:25:22,990 --> 00:25:24,510 Reward yourself for small blocks. 454 00:25:24,510 --> 00:25:25,470 It makes a big difference. 455 00:25:25,470 --> 00:25:28,190 But that takes discipline and that takes focus. 456 00:25:28,270 --> 00:25:31,070 And that's what we see in the story of Martha and Mary. 457 00:25:31,070 --> 00:25:34,190 Mary had incredible discipline and focus to do this. 458 00:25:34,190 --> 00:25:38,670 And then we see in the story, be realistic, not idealistic. 459 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:42,200 Martha wanted to make it a great meal. 460 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,040 She wanted to please everybody. 461 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:47,840 And I'm sure she thought, I'm going to do this meal, everybody's 462 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,960 going to be happy, we're going to have a fabulous time. 463 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,920 And then I'm going to have time with Jesus when this is all 464 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:53,240 over. 465 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:59,040 And of course, it didn't happen that way because it always 466 00:25:59,040 --> 00:25:59,960 comes in last. 467 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,130 Jesus gave Martha permission to not be idealistic. 468 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,080 He said, there will always be another meal. 469 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:10,520 Let it go. 470 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:11,800 Let it go. 471 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:13,480 He gave her permission. 472 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,880 And so many of us, especially high achieving people, are so idealistic. 473 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,960 They get gripped in time management because they get overwhelmed. 474 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,440 So let me give you four quick tips that might be helpful to you. 475 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,280 The first is set reachable goals and then reevaluate. 476 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:30,040 Set reachable goals. 477 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:33,520 You can say, well, you know, I get this story and this is really 478 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:33,760 important. 479 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,860 I got to say, spend more time with God. 480 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:39,180 I'm gonna get up an hour early every day and read my Bible and study. 481 00:26:39,260 --> 00:26:40,060 No, you're not. 482 00:26:40,220 --> 00:26:41,580 So don't set that goal. 483 00:26:42,300 --> 00:26:43,340 It's not gonna happen. 484 00:26:43,340 --> 00:26:45,740 You're gonna fall back asleep just like I would too. 485 00:26:46,780 --> 00:26:50,140 Set a reasonable goal and then reevaluate it. 486 00:26:50,140 --> 00:26:52,300 Do it for a while and then reevaluate it. 487 00:26:52,300 --> 00:26:53,580 It doesn't have to be a life goal. 488 00:26:53,740 --> 00:26:57,580 You can change it after a bit, but get into it and then reevaluate. 489 00:26:57,740 --> 00:26:59,180 So start there. 490 00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:02,790 Second, everything takes longer than you Planned. 491 00:27:02,790 --> 00:27:06,710 If you understand that, it really helps you manage your time. 492 00:27:08,070 --> 00:27:12,630 You have to plan the time you have, not the time you wish you had. 493 00:27:14,070 --> 00:27:17,550 Because we all have this idealistic picture of how fast we 494 00:27:17,550 --> 00:27:18,070 can get it done. 495 00:27:18,070 --> 00:27:19,190 It doesn't happen that way. 496 00:27:19,350 --> 00:27:23,150 Third thing I'd suggest to you is use your best hours for what's 497 00:27:23,150 --> 00:27:23,670 most important. 498 00:27:24,710 --> 00:27:28,550 Protect those best times for the things that matter the most. 499 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:30,320 And that's different for everybody. 500 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:31,840 We are all wired differently. 501 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,880 My best hours are 7pm to midnight. 502 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,720 If I'm going to write, if I'm going to think, if I'm going to do 503 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,200 something really important, that's the time I do it. 504 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:44,040 That's when my best times are is 7pm to midnight. 505 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:44,800 And I know that. 506 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,920 So I bulk up meetings, I bulk up other kinds of things during the 507 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,120 day so I can protect that time at night for projects and other kinds 508 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:54,160 of things I need to do. 509 00:27:55,290 --> 00:27:58,730 Whatever your best time is, protect it carefully. 510 00:27:58,810 --> 00:28:03,690 And then I would suggest to you, purposefully put spaces in your 511 00:28:03,690 --> 00:28:08,130 schedule we can schedule so tight you don't have any room left 512 00:28:08,130 --> 00:28:08,890 for your soul. 513 00:28:10,409 --> 00:28:11,850 Leave some room to breathe. 514 00:28:12,570 --> 00:28:14,650 Jesus said it's okay if the dinner's late. 515 00:28:15,290 --> 00:28:17,690 It's not a problem if the dinner's late. 516 00:28:18,650 --> 00:28:21,610 You see, an idealistic schedule assumes that everything 517 00:28:21,770 --> 00:28:23,050 will go perfectly. 518 00:28:23,820 --> 00:28:28,060 But a realistic schedule assumes you are human and life is 519 00:28:28,060 --> 00:28:29,340 messy and it is. 520 00:28:31,420 --> 00:28:34,700 Martha in this story needed more than a better schedule. 521 00:28:35,420 --> 00:28:39,740 She needed to be realistic about a view of what actually could 522 00:28:39,740 --> 00:28:42,940 be done and a view of what mattered most. 523 00:28:43,340 --> 00:28:46,380 And here's a key time management principle from the story. 524 00:28:46,860 --> 00:28:51,060 Jesus was teaching Mary and Martha to prioritize the things whose 525 00:28:51,060 --> 00:28:53,450 value of lasts beyond the moment. 526 00:28:54,650 --> 00:28:56,570 What lasts beyond the moment? 527 00:28:57,610 --> 00:29:03,010 Mary's chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from 528 00:29:03,010 --> 00:29:03,290 her. 529 00:29:04,970 --> 00:29:08,490 Your time at Belhaven is more than to prepare you for a career. 530 00:29:08,570 --> 00:29:12,250 To help you develop habits, deal with stress, how you treat people, 531 00:29:12,250 --> 00:29:13,610 how you balance challenges. 532 00:29:13,770 --> 00:29:15,690 You know, what you do when nobody's watching. 533 00:29:16,330 --> 00:29:18,510 It's decision to build. 534 00:29:18,750 --> 00:29:22,670 It's a decision you have to make whether to build your life around 535 00:29:22,830 --> 00:29:27,150 Christ or to try to fit Christ into what space remains. 536 00:29:28,030 --> 00:29:31,830 And that's a core decision that Jesus is asking us about in 537 00:29:31,830 --> 00:29:32,270 this story. 538 00:29:33,630 --> 00:29:37,830 If Jesus only gets what time is left over when everything else 539 00:29:37,830 --> 00:29:41,950 is finished, Jesus will always come in last, every single time. 540 00:29:42,510 --> 00:29:44,550 And life's not going to get any simpler after college. 541 00:29:44,550 --> 00:29:46,270 I hate to tell you, it's only going to get worse. 542 00:29:47,030 --> 00:29:49,870 You see, Jesus is saying, don't spend all your time on the 543 00:29:49,870 --> 00:29:53,430 Things whose value ends when the task is finished. 544 00:29:53,830 --> 00:29:56,070 And that doesn't mean spiritual things. 545 00:29:56,310 --> 00:29:59,510 That football team will never forget that game Saturday night. 546 00:29:59,510 --> 00:30:03,230 The rest of their lives, they will relive that game and all the 547 00:30:03,230 --> 00:30:05,350 things that it took to win that game. 548 00:30:06,310 --> 00:30:08,990 So it's not just about a spiritual thing. 549 00:30:08,990 --> 00:30:11,350 It's the things that last, the things that matter. 550 00:30:11,670 --> 00:30:12,550 Now I get it. 551 00:30:12,550 --> 00:30:14,640 Sometimes, you know, you need a break. 552 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:15,680 You need to flip your phone. 553 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,240 You need to, you know, just to, you know, turn your mind off 554 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:20,680 for a minute. 555 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,960 Or maybe you want to look for more pictures of me, you know, Abby, 556 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:24,680 where's that picture? 557 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,000 Doing this thing that you got me to do. 558 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,000 You know, maybe you want to do that, that's okay. 559 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:32,760 And I do the same thing. 560 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,800 But we got to move along to the things that matter the most. 561 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,790 Invest your time with shapes you into who you're becoming. 562 00:30:42,030 --> 00:30:44,830 Your relationship with Christ, your character, your wisdom, your 563 00:30:44,830 --> 00:30:47,790 determination, your focus, your relationships. 564 00:30:48,110 --> 00:30:52,590 Some things we spend time on are finished when the day's over. 565 00:30:52,910 --> 00:30:56,670 And other things become part of who we are. 566 00:30:57,390 --> 00:31:01,470 You see, Jesus is teaching to put the first things first. 567 00:31:01,470 --> 00:31:03,310 Here's a quick, quick assignment for you. 568 00:31:03,310 --> 00:31:04,150 We got two minutes to go. 569 00:31:04,150 --> 00:31:04,990 Don't get wrestled yet. 570 00:31:04,990 --> 00:31:05,830 We got two minutes to go. 571 00:31:05,830 --> 00:31:06,590 We're not done yet. 572 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:08,040 Practical challenge. 573 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:10,000 Practical challenge. 574 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,520 And this challenge is not for when you first wake up in the morning, 575 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,640 but set the tone for the day. 576 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:21,080 For the next seven days, give Jesus your first meaningful attention 577 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:21,800 of the day. 578 00:31:22,679 --> 00:31:23,800 Your first meaningful. 579 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,200 You know, if you come flying out of bed to class, I mean, out 580 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,720 of bed and go straight to class, that's not the time to do 581 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:29,840 it. 582 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:31,960 Maybe it's after class, maybe it's after lunch. 583 00:31:32,290 --> 00:31:35,970 Whatever your most meaningful moment of the day is, give that attention 584 00:31:36,290 --> 00:31:37,170 to Jesus. 585 00:31:37,250 --> 00:31:38,530 Here's what I want you to do. 586 00:31:38,530 --> 00:31:41,170 Spend 15 minutes, read the scripture. 587 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:42,370 Not long. 588 00:31:43,010 --> 00:31:44,690 We're only going to do this for 15 minutes. 589 00:31:44,770 --> 00:31:48,970 Read the scripture, a short passage, think about what it says 590 00:31:48,970 --> 00:31:51,170 to you, then read it again. 591 00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:54,530 And then ask God to teach you something about it. 592 00:31:54,530 --> 00:31:55,810 It's as simple as that. 593 00:31:55,970 --> 00:31:58,750 And if you're not used to reading scripture, start with the 594 00:31:58,750 --> 00:31:59,430 Gospel of John. 595 00:31:59,430 --> 00:32:01,350 It's the third gospel in the New Testament. 596 00:32:01,350 --> 00:32:04,110 Start there and read just a page. 597 00:32:04,190 --> 00:32:05,230 That's all you gotta do. 598 00:32:05,230 --> 00:32:05,510 Do it. 599 00:32:05,510 --> 00:32:07,790 15 minutes a day for the next seven days. 600 00:32:07,790 --> 00:32:08,750 I challenge you. 601 00:32:08,750 --> 00:32:09,990 And God will speak to you. 602 00:32:09,990 --> 00:32:12,590 The point C is not to complete another task. 603 00:32:12,670 --> 00:32:14,830 The point is to build the relationship. 604 00:32:15,870 --> 00:32:20,990 Mary was at the feet of Jesus not because it was on her schedule, 605 00:32:21,310 --> 00:32:23,920 but because Jesus was worth stopping for. 606 00:32:24,550 --> 00:32:26,750 You and I are always going to have more stuff to do than we could 607 00:32:26,750 --> 00:32:29,110 ever could or wish we could get done. 608 00:32:29,590 --> 00:32:33,270 But you'll never have more than one life to become the person 609 00:32:33,350 --> 00:32:35,110 God's calling you to be. 610 00:32:35,910 --> 00:32:41,150 Following Jesus means we always need to learn to choose what 611 00:32:41,150 --> 00:32:41,950 matters most. 612 00:32:41,950 --> 00:32:43,750 That's what he's teaching us in the Scripture. 613 00:32:43,750 --> 00:32:47,830 So ask him to help you to do that so you can see it, so you can 614 00:32:48,070 --> 00:32:50,230 imagine it, and so you can hear it. 615 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:55,240 As our benediction says, no eye is seen, no ear is heard, no 616 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:59,560 mind is conceived, but God has prepared to those who love Him.