Jesus, All for Jesus!

August 11, 2015

Jesus, All for Jesus!

“But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:41-42

Within the heart of humankind, there is the seed of competitiveness. On varying levels, we all continually measure ourselves against others. In our text for today, Martha measured her striving to prepare a meal for Jesus and his entourage against her sister Mary who was firmly ensconced at the feet of Jesus. Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha was not an affirmation that Mary was a better person than Martha. Rather, Mary had discovered the one thing that enables a person to experience the presence of Jesus, even in times of spiritual dryness; the one thing that enables his followers to faithfully serve him.

As we seek to be faithful disciples while awaiting the return of our Master, we need within our ranks both the contemplative, and those who busy themselves with the work that needs to be done. After all, if Martha had found herself enraptured at the feet of Jesus with Mary, who would have provided food for their divine guest?

I have found but one prescription to help me combat my natural tendencies toward competitiveness: “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a). Or, as Robin Mark taught us to sing,

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

I surrender these into Your hands.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

I surrender these into Your hands.

For it's only in Your will that I am free,

For it's only in Your will that I am free,

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

Jesus, All for Jesus

Robin Mark

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.