Don’t Drown Out Jesus This Christmas

Dec 22, 2014 Don’t Drown Out Jesus This Christmas by Rick Warren “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 10:41b-42 NLT) You and I love to overcrowd our lives. We overbook, overspend, overestimate, and we often walk around tired all the time. As a result, God’s truth often doesn’t get the chance to blossom in our lives. Too often God teaches you a kernel of truth — maybe through your morning Bible study or a Sunday sermon — and you think you need to do something about it, but almost immediately it’s crowded out of your life and forgotten. The truth isn’t crowded out of your life because of evil. Often, good things in our lives crowd out the truth that God wants to plant in us. To fulfill God’s destiny for your life, you likely don’t have to do more; you have to do less. Take Jesus’ friends Mary and Martha for example. One day they invited Jesus over for dinner. Mary spent her evening listening to Jesus. Martha, on the other hand, was busy being a hostess and worrying about the hors d’oeuvres and whether everything was in its place. Martha got upset that she had to do all the work while her sister got to sit with Jesus. That’s when Jesus said to her: “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 10:41b-42 NLT). When your life is over, only one thing will really matter: Did you get to know the Son of God? The extra Christmas presents you were able to buy because of your long hours at the office won’t matter. All the time you spent preparing the perfect holiday meal won’t matter either. But whether you spent your time getting to know Jesus will matter for ages and ages to come. So enjoy the Christmas season. Wrap the presents. Prepare your home in a festive way. Make memories with your family. But don’t let this Christmas pass without spending some time at Jesus’ feet. Long after everything else fades from this Christmas, worshiping Jesus is all that will truly last. Talk It Over What are some areas of your life you’ve let compete with your relationship with God? Why do you think we often drift away from Mary’s devotion and toward Martha’s over-insistence on inconsequential activity? How can you build time into your Christmas schedule to spend with Jesus?

Esteeming One Another

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us…
Ephesians 5:2, AMP

TODAY'S WORD:

We don’t often hear the world esteem very much in our culture, but the Bible tells us to esteem and delight in one another. One definition of esteem is to hold in high regard. That means we are to honor and value one another and hold them in high regard, even if you don’t always agree with them. Sometimes people think, “That person doesn’t act honorably, so why should I honor them?” But the truth is, we are to honor and esteem people because they are valuable in the eyes of God.

If you had a very costly and valuable piece of jewelry, you wouldn’t just wear it to the gym or leave it on the kitchen sink. No, you would treat it carefully. You would put it in a safe place and protect it. It’s the same way with people. When we see others as valuable the way God sees them, we treat them carefully. We speak respectfully. We look for the good in others and honor them for who God made them to be. This holiday season, choose to esteem and delight in one another. Sow good seeds into your relationships and see a harvest of blessing in every area of your life!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, today I choose love. I choose to honor the people around me. Help me to see value in others. Help my actions and words to esteem and delight in them so that I can be an example of Your love and light in Jesus’ name. Amen.

​PS...​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BT-3TSLRJ0