One Thing is Needful: Week Eight - Reflections

I can't believe we are already on our last week of this study!  It has been such a joy to walk through this with each of you. 

As I began to reflect back on the study and prepare for this upcoming week, my thoughts went to something I once heard Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love) say.  He says imagine you told your child to go clean their room.  Your child walks away and then returns saying:

I memorized what you said.  I can say it in Greek!  In fact, some of my friends are going to come over tonight and do a little study on what it would look like for me to clean my room.

Yet- they never actually clean the room!  Is that going to work with you?  Are you going to be pleased with that?  No way!  The scenario sounds absurd, yet aren't we often guilty of doing exactly that in our Bible studies? 

Is there a disconnect between our quiet time and our application of God's word in real life?  We can read God's word, study it, memorize, it, look up the Greek meanings and even apply it to hypothetical situations; however, all of this is in vain if we do not DO IT!

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he begin not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  (James 1:22-25)

We've looked into God's word and seen who we need to be. We know that He is the key to balancing all the other areas and relationships in our life.  He's not just another area off to the side or the first thing on our to do list to check off.  He's our everything - our ONE thing needful!  Now let's not forget it, or just go our own way, but let's practice it.  (Hopefully, you already are!) 

Let me tell you, just because you are at His feet doesn't mean everything around you is going to change and become easier.  God doesn't promise that everything will be peachy-keen when we surrender to Him.  In fact, contrary to popular belief, He doesn't even promise to not give us more than we can bear.  However, what He does promise is to always be there.  The change isn't going to be on our outside circumstances but on the inside.  It's going to come with our choice we make within the circumstance.

It's all up to us - will we choose the good part?  Will we be Mary sitting at His feet or Martha allowing other distractions to separate us from Christ?  

As we go through this week and reflect on each area of our life, there are three questions we will ask: 

1. What scripture stood out the most from that week? 
2. What does sitting at His feet actually look like in that area of our life? 
3. What do we want to remember most from this week?

Based on these answers, we can form a strategy to carry out His word and be more like Mary.  I'd love to hear your responses as we go throughout this week!  What has God shown you through this study?  What does sitting at His feet actually look like in your day to day life?