Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s cold and busy Wednesday in Virginia, and there are lots of things on my to-do list around the farm today, BUT the first thing on my list is always to meet with the Living God. I take my time when we meet…I always have and I always will. When I still had a houseful of kids and a zillion distractions, I made it a priority to rise and shine long before they did, just so that I could have my Time with the Author and Perfector of my Faith. It’s not about how busy you are, it’s about how Willing you are! Sometimes my Time with Him is short, sometimes it’s long, and SOMETIMES I get so lost in Him that I don’t even know what time it is at all! He’s not on my schedule like all of those other little things in my life…He IS my life. I don’t make time for Him…I TAKE time for Him instead, and somehow, the less I care about the time and the other things on my “list”, the more time I seem to have! It’s almost as if He multiplies it because I gave the first and best of what I had to give to Him. Is that the way it is for you, too?

It’s so easy to get caught up in things we THINK we’re supposed to do, or things we believe are “expected” of us, even when it comes to God. Sometimes we’re like hamsters on a wheel, and we run and run, and before you know it, we’re worn out by doing things that have no real meaning at all. There is a story of two women in the Bible who had the privilege of having Jesus in their home as He was passing through. Can you imagine? One of them went to work like a beaver in the kitchen to prepare a feast for Jesus and His disciples. She wanted to please Him in practical and tangible ways. The other woman sat at His feet, hungering for time, and she seemingly couldn’t get enough of Him because of it. I doubt it even occurred to her to leave His presence to go prepare a meal! One was working hard to serve Him…the other sitting at His feet “doing nothing”. When the busy one whined to Jesus about how hard she was working, and she appealed to Him to get the other woman to help her, too, His response was beautiful. “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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I used to search for things to do to serve, and I’d roll up my sleeves and work like a beaver in an attempt to prove my love to Him…but not anymore. Now I sit at His feet, and I give Him my time, my Heart and my attention, and somehow He points me in the right Direction to those ways to serve that are of the most “value” to Him. Sometimes it’s writing a few words that He puts on my Heart. Sometimes it’s getting tangible things into the hands of someone in need. Sometimes it’s helping someone laugh through their pain. Sometimes it’s sharing a little wisdom that God gave to me when I asked for it. Sometimes it’s Shepherding His flock. Sometimes it’s just loving someone else when the rest of the world seems to have trouble loving them. Whatever it is, I’m ready to serve. I don’t have to do busy-work to “prove” that I love Him, although I’m willing to do it all when He tells me to. In the meantime, I’ll be doing what He loves best – I’ll be sitting at His feet without a care in the world, and I’ll be loving every minute of it, no matter what time it is or how much is on my plate.

How about you? Do you work like a beaver to “prove” you love the King while you refuse to sit at His feet for as long as you can just to be in His presence? IF so, reach out to me. I’ll tell you about people who stay really busy trying to prove things to the King without the Heart to back it up, who will be shocked to hear “I never knew you” one day, and when I’m done with you, you’ll slow down and take your time sitting at the feet of Jesus, too.