Today’s Scripture Reading
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.” —Luke 10:38-42
QUESTION
What is the one thing you hope for that - if you could attain it - would put you at rest?
In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we learn that ultimately in this world there is no finished symphony. —Karl Rahner
DESIRE IS
WE LIVE
You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. —St. Augustine
APART FROM
Advertising is literally the attempt to monetize God. —John Mark Comer, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”
It is as if we have inadvertently stumbled into some horrific wonderland. —Wayne Muller
RESTFULNESS VS. RESTLESSNESS:
QUESTION:
Which describes you best - restful or restless?
Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. —Hebrews 4:9-11 (NET)
People who keep sabbath live all seven days differently. —Walter Brueggemann
The Sabbath has largely been forgotten by the church, which has uncritically mimicked the rhythms of the industrial and success-obsessed West. The result? Our road-weary, exhausted churches have largely failed to integrate Sabbath into their lives as vital elements of Christian discipleship. It is not as though we do not love God—we love God deeply. We just do not know how to sit with God anymore. We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history. —A.J. Swoboda
My family and I do this every week…We sleep in Saturday morning. Drink coffee. Read our Bibles. Pray more. Spend time together. Talk. Laugh. In summer, walk to the park. In winter, make a fire. Get lost in good novels on the couch. Cuddle. Nap. Make love. Honestly, I spend a lot of time just sitting by the window, being. It’s like a less stressful Christmas every week. And something happens about halfway through the day, something hard to put language to. It’s like my soul catches up to my body. Like some deep part of me that got beat up and drowned out by meetings and email and Twitter and relational conflict and the difficulty of life comes back to the surface of my heart. I feel free. Free from the need to do more, get more, be more. Free from the spirit—the evil, demonic spirit—of restlessness that enslaves our society.
I feel another spirit, the Holy Spirit, of restful calm settle over my whole person. And I find that my ordinary life is enough. And on Saturday evening when I turn my phone back on and reenter the modern world, I do so slowly. And, wow, does that ever feel good. —John Mark Comer, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”
FOR REFLECTION & PRAYER
Have I ever felt deep satisfaction? If so, what did it feel like? What was it that made me feel satisfied? Did it last?
In your life, what would it look like to “put all our other desires in their proper place below God”?
What is the Holy Spirit teaching me this morning?
How will I choose to respond to God’s voice today and in the days to come?
YOU’RE NOT DOING THIS ALONE! HERE’S SOME HELP: