Spending Time With God

POLL: Does outer space sound more scary or cool? Would you ever want to be an astronaut?

Have you ever been around whenever your parents are having guests over? Have you ever been there whenever you parents are rushing and stressed out because they want to make sure everything is perfect for their guests?

I remember times like that. When I was a kid, and we were having guests, I would come home and my mom would give me something that looked like this. (Picture of Chore List).

Does this look familiar? Anyone ever get a chore list?

Whenever I caught word that we were having guests, I could always predict that I would soon be handed a list by my mom. It would say things like this.

Clean Your Room

(Even under your bed)

Sweep the Floor

Take Out the Trash

Clean the Bathroom

Floor

Sink

Counter

Toilet!!!!

Has anyone ever had to clean the toilet before? Gross!

I’d rush through all my chores and try to get my entire list done. And while I was doing that my siblings had their own lists that they had to finish and my parents were both running around and trying to finish everything before the guests arrived.

Pretty hectic. Pretty crazy. A lot of work.

And truth is, I really didn’t care about the list. I could care less if our guest thought my room was messy or thought the bathroom was disgusting. Who cares!

But let me ask you this: How hard would you work, how much would you clean, how hard would you prepare, if Jesus was coming over to your house?

Oh snap. I feel like, if I knew that Jesus was coming over, you better believe that I would be following that list to a T! I would be getting every last thing out from under my bed. Everything off the floor. I would be sweeping every corner and wiping every counter top and you know! I would be scrubbing that toilet hard!

Why? Because Jesus is coming! And I want to show him my best!

Did you know, in the Bible, there is a story about a woman who had Jesus over for dinner and did everything I just talked about?

Its true. You find the story in the book of Luke.

Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road and they came to a village. In this village there lived a woman named Martha.

Martha invited Jesus and his disciples over for dinner. Inside her home, she also had a sister named Mary.

Just like we talked about, with Jesus coming over, Martha realized that there was so much to do! She had to clean the house, cool the meal, make sure the toilet was pristine. There was so much to do!

While she was running around trying to finish all of her chores, her sister Mary sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to him teach. Jesus was teaching about love and forgiveness and grace and Mary couldn’t get enough! She could sit at Jesus’s feet for hours!

Meanwhile, Martha was struggling to finish everything that needed done. Her list was growing by the minute. She still needed to clean her room and make dinner, and get everything prepared!

Then, she saw that her sister Mary wasn’t even helping! She was just sitting there listening to Jesus! What in the world!?

So Martha cried out to Jesus, “Hey Jesus, why don’t you tell Mary to help me instead of just sitting there. I’m killing myself trying to finish everything!”

And this is how Jesus responded:

New International Reader’s Version Chapter 10

41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered. “You are worried and upset about many things. 42But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her.”

Whoa! What was Jesus saying? Jesus said. Martha, you have this long list of chores and you’re worried about so many things. You are so busy and have so much to do. But you really only need one thing. And Mary has found it.

What was Jesus talking about? What did Mary find?

Right! It was Jesus.

Jesus was saying, Mary you are upset about so many things, but there is really only one thing that you really need, and it’s me!

Mary is doing the right thing. She is sitting at my feet. Soaking me in. Listening to every word I say.

What does this teach us. Well I think that Jesus is giving us a hint at a great way that you and I can Blast Off in our relationship with Jesus!

One of the best ways that you can grow closer to Jesus and also show him that you love him is by spending time at his feet, just like Mary!

You can spend time with God. How do we do it exactly? Well you can read your Bible. Whenever you set time aside to read your Bible and dig into Scripture you are spending time with God. It’s just like sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to him teach. When we read our Bibles we can hear what God has to say!

You can also Pray! That means we shouldn’t just pray to God when we need something or when we are upset. But we should pray all the time.

Did you know that you can pray to God no matter where you are or what you’re doing!? It’s true! Also, did you know that you can pray to God even without closing your eyes.

It’s true. All you have to do is direct your thoughts to him. While you’re in class. On the bus. Playing on the playground. God hears us when we pray. And if we want to show him that we love him and follow his commands, we should pray often! It’s a great way to spend time with him!

Coming to church is another great way! It’s a great way to get into God’s presence and learn more about him!

And finally, singing songs of praise. It’s how we worship him and thank him for all he’s done.

Too often, we can look like Martha. We get so busy that we run around from place to place trying to make sure everything is finished. We get busy with school or sports. And we get so busy, that we might even forget about God! We might forget about the importance of spending time with him!

We cannot fall into the same trap that Martha fell into. We can’t get distracted by our lists.

Instead, we must set time aside to spend time with him at his feet. Because Jesus said, only one thing is needed and that is Him!