Don’t get so caught up in the details that you miss the relationship. Whether that be with the important people in our lives, or with Jesus Himself.
My favorite season is almost upon us! FALL!! I love everything about fall… the cool weather, the colors, the smells, pumpkins, mums, fire pits and smores… I could go on and on! I also love hosting parties at my home. Every year in October, my family hosts a Pumpkin Party. We decorate the backyard with pumpkins, mums, corn stalks and hay bales. There’s a pot of chili on the fire and we have pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies and all sorts of other goodies. Every family brings their own pumpkin and we have a carving contest. We make smores, we sit around the fire, we eat, we laugh, the kids run around the backyard. I love it! But as you can probably tell, there’s a lot of work that goes into making this day happen.
So here is the behind-the-scenes…
I frantically bark orders at my family ALL day! “Put this here”, “Carry this outside”, “Start the fire”, “Hang the lights”, “Move the pumpkins to the backyard”, “Help me wash these dishes”, “Clean up the house” (because even though it is an outside party, someone may need to come inside, right?) “Why are you just sitting there?” “Help me!” And then when everything is outside, it has to be in its perfect place! The table has to look perfect, with its fall tablecloth and matching napkins, plates and cups. The mums, hay bales and pumpkins have to be sitting in just the right spot. “Move that hay bale over this way.” “Now, move it back that way.” You get the idea. By the end of the day, my family is wishing I would trip over a large pumpkin! I LOVE fall! I LOVE my friends! And I just want this night to be perfect for them! Is that too much to ask?
As I read the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, I feel Martha’s frustration. People are coming over! JESUS is in my home! Everything must be just right! And then there’s Mary. She just wants to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. She’s not interested in helping Martha with all of the preparations. So Martha goes to Jesus and says “Make her help me!” And Jesus says to Martha, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Since the first time I ever read this story, I knew I was a “Martha.” I want my family to help me make this night amazing! But they don’t care what the table looks like or where each pumpkin and mum are strategically placed. They just want to enjoy being with friends. And I think that’s what Jesus is saying. Don’t get so caught up in the details that you miss the relationship. Whether that be with the important people in our lives, or with Jesus Himself. Jesus wants us to sit at His feet and have a relationship with Him. We don’t have to clean things up first. We don’t have to get our lives in order and fix all of the messes we’ve made. He doesn’t need a perfect pumpkin butterscotch bundt cake with butterscotch sauce. He just wants us. Our time, our hearts, our attention. Just choose what is better and sit with Him.
