Here and Now

Scripture--
"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was worrying over 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 Martha, 'My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it--and I won't take it away from her.'"
Luke 10:38-42

Observation--
Here's the setup: Jesus stops in a village on the way to Jerusalem and pops in on Mary and Martha. We see two different attitudes toward life and two different attitudes toward Christ reflected in this event. Mary sees Jesus and comes to sit at His feet, listen to Him, contemplate Him, and just be near Him. Martha, on the other hand, sees Jesus enter into her home and puts herself to work cooking and cleaning to get things done for Jesus--adhering to the unwritten law of hospitality that is such a huge part of her culture--but not necessarily honoring Jesus in her heart...Here's what I picked up from this passage:

Attitudes toward life--

What Mary would say: "I live in the now, and take the time to value what is going on around me, paying close attention to what God is up to in the here and now."

What Martha would say: "I live for the future, worrying about and focusing on tasks that need done, and as a result I tend to miss out on what God is doing in the here and now because my eyes are stuck on a future event or ministry (in this case, dinner!)"

Attitudes toward Jesus--

Mary: be with Jesus in the here and now
Martha: work for Jesus now and be with Him later

Which of these attitudes are we to take toward life? Which of these attitudes are we to take toward Jesus?

Application--
It's funny, God's been teaching me a lot about living in the here and now. I mean, like, these past 2 weeks, He's been teaching me that. I have this major tendency to think (and worry) ahead far too much, and the result is that instead of being present and in the now, taking things in stride as God brings them, I tend to be far off in the distance. As a result, I miss major things God wants to show me right there on the path where I'm at, and I miss huge opportunities to minister in Jesus' name to people who really need it. And I miss the enormous blessing that results from that, too.

So that's where I'm at, learning to live in the now. Some days it works great because I ask God to help me be intentional about that, and other days I kind of zone out and live anywhere from 2 hours to 10 years in the future. I can't do that anymore. That's not what Jesus did!!! Can you imagine? "Sorry, Bartimaeus, I can't help you right now; I'm on the way to My triumphant entry into Jerusalem and can't stop right now. Tough luck, bro. Make an appointment for sometime between now and my crucifixion, OK?"

Prayer--
Thank You, Jesus, that You are not that way! What huge blessings we miss by putting our minds at the end of the road and not actually on the block of path where we're at. Lord, please help us to learn how to live in the now!