Tend your garden

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

I was walking in my neighborhood the other day, and I walked past a house with a trailer attachment parked on the street near the house. The trailer advertised a lawn care service. As I got closer to the house, I looked at the lawn around the house, and saw dry patches, weeds, and crab grass. I immediately thought, "Well, this lawn isn't doing this business any advertising favors!" How can a person who owns a lawn care service not even maintain his or her own lawn? And of course, this thought made me think about our spiritual walks, especially those of us in positions of leadership within the church. How can a follower of Christ, even a minister, not maintain his or her own inner world and relationship with Christ? We ask others to "follow Christ" and "be in relationship with Jesus", but are we practicing what we are preaching?

I love the story of Martha and Mary. They both loved Jesus but chose to express their love in different ways. Obviously... Martha's love language is acts of service and Mary's is quality time, but what is Jesus's love language? Jesus wants our quality time. What did Jesus say? "Mary has chosen the good portion" as she sat at the feet of Jesus and gave Him her undivided attention and time. What a valuable gift to give Jesus, our undivided attention and time!

Nothing else matters. No ministry, no job, no hobby, no fame stands in comparison to our relationship with Jesus. You could preach to millions of people about Jesus. You could be the most generous. You could be excellent at your job. You could be the best parent. You could be well-known in your community for your compassion ministry. You could be the best VBS volunteer. But, if you don't know Jesus...if you don't sit at his feet, listen to his words and obey, then you need to get back to your roots. You need to go back to your first love. We need to tend our gardens, friends.

How is your inner world (your emotions, feelings, thoughts, etc.)?

Is it full of anxiety, doubt, and turmoil? Sit at the feet of Jesus. He is your peace.

Is everything going great? Sit at the feet of Jesus. He will keep you grounded.

I like to call the maintenance of the inner world "tending my garden"....checking in on my own thoughts, emotions, responses. How am I really doing? I always need to "weed out" the lies or negativity I've been believing. I need to plant God's Word in my heart and mind. I need to feed my spirit. This is an absolute necessity to do with Jesus if we want to be in God's will, which is to form us into His image. We must maintain an open dialogue with Jesus if we're ever going to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Listen to what Jesus says about the people who ONLY gave Jesus their acts of service and not their quality time:

"On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"

How tragic that day will be for anyone who never took the time to know Jesus!

Let's continue to do GREAT works for Jesus without becoming too busy to KNOW Jesus! Let's be people who are known for our intimacy with Christ. May we be Christ to those who do not know Him yet.