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Are You Running On Empty?


Truthfully? When driving, the last thing I remember to do is buy fuel. My husband had repeatedly giving me ‘lectures’ on why I must not run my car on empty. My excuse? It takes too much out of my time to stop; I equally forget that I would spend much more time and money if the car sputters to a stop as I may not only have to buy fuel but change certain parts in the car. Very frustrating if you are someone like me, thus I find myself (not intentionally) most times running my car on empty! Unfortunately, so many run the spiritual race in like manner. Let us take a look at Luke 10 verse 38-42:  "As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said. But 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.' 'Martha, Martha' the Lord answered." (Sometimes I think He is calling my name), 'You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”  Well, here's Martha, miserable in the presence of Jesus Christ. She's got Jesus in her home, and she's...well, as it says, ‘distracted by all the preparations.’ In the original Greek that word distracted means pulled or dragged away. This simply means she's pulled or dragged away from enjoying the Presence of the Lord by all the works she ‘had’ to do. The Lord shows us which position is better and more important. It is the position of Mary, sitting at His feet listening to Him; He said that’s what’s needed, what is better! He basically says, "Martha, more important to Me than the tasks you're doing is Our Time Together." That is the sobering thought and warning in this story. Work for Jesus can actually pull you away from your time with Jesus. Now, if all your discretionary time is used in His work, I bet you’d feel pretty spiritual and good with your ‘self’, however, Christian ‘busyness’ can actually cover up a growing distance between you and the Lord and your empty soul - an empty tank. I'm supposed to be busy building His Kingdom, but that's secondary to being His regular companion and friend! The most important is settling down in my Spirit to listen to Him, thus, letting Him fill my tank with love for Him. Then my list of Jesus' tasks comes from a heart full of Jesus' love and listening to Him.  When listening my friend, you're equally making sure that you're busy doing what He wants to do through you, not what you want to do for Him. Jesus says, "Sit at My feet before you start running around on yours." When I'm rushing to get to places, I don't want to stop for a fill-up. But the result is stress and sometimes eventually getting nowhere. Could it be you've gotten so caught up in running around for Jesus Christ that you're running on empty? Stop for a re-fill every morning and every time the spiritual gauge is waning. Friend, you will enjoy the drive a lot more. Oh, and the people who ride with you will equally enjoy you a lot more. God bless you.

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