The Bible for Women

Weekly Devotional

I do not know the original author to the following which was submitted by a friend and sister in Christ, Hilary Hardy, but it hit close to home with me and I wanted to share with you.

Dusting

"A house becomes a home when you can write "I love you" on the
furniture."

I can't tell you how many countless hours that I have spent CLEANING!
I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect -"in case someone came over". Then I realized one day that no one came over; they were all out living life and having fun!

Now, when people visit, I find no need to explain the "condition" of my
home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been
doing while I was away living life and having fun. If you haven't
figured this out yet, please heed this advice.

Life is short. Enjoy it! Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better to
paint a picture or write a letter, bake a cake or plant a seed, ponder
the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time, with rivers to swim and
mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes,
the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day
will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of
life you have lived.

As I read this I thought of the account in Luke chapter 10 when Jesus went to visit the home of Martha and Mary:38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

 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."

As Jesus clearly states here, we must always choose to sit at his feet rather than worry with things such as cleaning. How many times have we opened our homes to people and spent more time cleaning dinner dishes than in the family room spending time with them. We cannot minister to folks if we are cleaning rather than ministering. So let us strive to choose as Mary chose: Focus on Christ, His mission has become ours.

May God bless you this week. Margie