snickers

The Beloved Beauties, my Bible study group, have been studying "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" for the past five weeks.  Well, I have a confession to make. Chapter 5 stepped on my toes yesterday.  Allow me to explain...

The author told a story about a woman who was busily preparing for dinner guests all day long.  Cooking, cleaning, scurrying about...late in the afternoon prior to the guests arriving she realized she was hungry.  She had forgotten to eat because she had been too busy preparing for her guests.  She took a break and ate a Snickers bar.  When the guests arrived and they were seated for dinner, she realized that she no longer had an appetite for dinner.  Everyone else was thoroughly enjoying the meal and she just pushed the food around on her plate.  Innocent, right? 

SIDEBAR: I love Snickers bars...Snickers Ice Cream bars, too. Tory brought some of those home last night and I thoroughly enjoyed one while watching Grey's Anatomy. But this is not the confession...maybe a small confession since I'm participating in a weight loss challenge at work, but not the point of this blog, that's for sure...

Well, here is what the lady told the author...

"The Lord spoke to me in that moment.  He showed me that we often fill our lives with spiritual Snickers bars---things like friends, books, and shopping.  They may be good things, completely innocent things---but not when they take the edge off our hunger for God."

I realized that I use way too much time filling myself with spiritual "Snickers" and not with the Word of God. I pondered on this all day yesterday. My feelings were hurt and I was convicted. I wholeheartedly sought repentance and apologized for leaving Jesus waiting for me in the corner...the place where I had pushed Him until I found the appropriate time to sit down and meditate and pray and listen and learn.

So here's the confession part...the part where my head forgot about the conviction of yesterday...

This morning, Harper woke up way earlier than usual. I was so tired from staying up late to watch Grey's Anatomy, but I fed her and she went right back to sleep. But not me...I set about getting ready for the day. I straightened the den, put a load of clothes in the dryer, got dressed, folded a load of laundry, prepared bottles, checked Facebook, read a few blogs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....

Did I spend time with Jesus? That's a big fat, nope. I prayed, sure, but I didn't spend any good quality time with Him. I thought about it...but quickly realized that I had left my Bible in the car. Did I bother to go get it? Of course not because I wasn't dressed yet...I figured I could do it later today.

On the way to work I started my daily prayers...prayers for a good day at school for Harper and a productive day at work for me, prayers for safe travels for Tory during his work schedule today, prayers for a myriad of requests. Did I take time to listen? What do you think? No! Because by the time I was finished talking, I was pulling into the parking lot at daycare.

I felt a tug on my heart. God revealed to me that He had blessed me with extra time this morning. He was inviting me to sit at Jesus' feet. He was giving me the quiet time I needed to spend in His Word while Tory and Harper still slept. And what do I do with that time? I played Martha. I busied myself with daily chores instead of filling myself up on Jesus.

Mark 1:35 tell us that Jesus got up early to spend time with His Father. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Jesus knew that he could not start his day in a tempted world without first seeking strength from His Father. Yet, I do it more than I care to admit. And Satan loves the fact that I face the day without giving Jesus my time when I first wake up. Satan wants me to believe that 10 more minutes of sleep is more important than my daily devotion time. Satan will tell me, "You can do it later." But Satan knows that I can fill my day with other distractions so that I will then say, "I'll do it tomorrow."

I've decided that I am putting myself on a diet...a diet from my daily distractions that hinder my time with Jesus. Like any diet, it is going to take will-power and determination. And if I get off track one day, I'm not going to throw in the towel like I'm accustomed to doing on a regular diet.  Instead of grabbing a "Snickers" when I get hungry, I'm going to reach for Jesus.  I choose to let His Word whet my appetite. 


Today I choose the better part...the part Mary chose when she opted to seat at Jesus' feet.


There's plenty of room at the feet of Jesus...will you sit with me?