We all understand that the things of this world can distract us from our devotion to God. But seemingly good things, like our religious activities and our service to Him, can make us too busy and distracted, as well. Could there be something in your life or mine that has been distracting us from wholehearted devotion to God? Could this be a bigger problem than most of us have realized and something we need to evaluate?
Today’s Readings:
Joshua 11 & 12
Psalm 44.4-19
Proverbs 14.1-2
Luke 10.25-42
Have You Been Too Busy & Distracted?
Luke 10.25-42:
Samaritans, Servants & Busyness
This passage contains two very familiar stories: Jesus’ teaching on the Good Samaritan and the story of Mary and Martha. First, the Good Samaritan:
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Notice that little phrase “wanting to justify himself.” He knew what the law said, but his desire was to be justified, to look good, and maybe to be sure his ticket to heaven was valid. He was focused on himself, not God and others.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
But rather than rebuke him, Jesus told a parable:
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
These men Jesus spoke of were religious. In another passage, Jesus said they enjoyed praying on the street corners and doing good deeds to look good to others (Matt. 6.1-5). But when they had a chance to help someone in need out of the limelight, they pretended not to see.
They thought their knowledge of the law and their heritage guaranteed them a place in heaven (Jn. 8.39). They were focused on their importance and religious activity, but what Jesus saw was their lack of love and obedience.
Genuine Love for Neighbor
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Samaritan demonstrated genuine biblical love for his neighbor. If we love God, we’ll have more than a desire to know the law. We should have a desire to obey it. That means loving those God places in our paths, whether we consider them friends or enemies. It means going out of our way to help others just as the Samaritan did.
Mary & Martha
Then in verses 38-42, we meet Martha and her sister Mary.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha was blessed with the gift of serving. She probably did it well and was, most likely, a blessing to others.
Jesus didn’t say serving was wrong. In fact, serving is one of the Holy Spirit-inspired gifts. The problem wasn’t that Martha wanted to serve; the problem was that she was “distracted” by it. She was focused on her busyness.
Perhaps, the priest and the Levite thought they were too busy doing “priestly, religious things” to be bothered with a stranger.
But no matter how much we serve, we can’t allow that service or anything else to distract us from the most important thing—spending time sitting at the feet of our Savior. And when we spend that time with Him, humble service to God lived out in our service to others will follow. It’s the fruit of a genuine relationship with Him.
So, where has your focus been? Have you neglected personal time with Him? Is God calling you to reevaluate some of the things you do and don’t do?
Make the Time
If you don’t already, why not set aside some time each day to read and study your Bible? View it as an appointment and keep it each day. Spend part of that time praying. Ask God to help you evaluate your schedule and priorities.
Even in the midst of many of the things we do like child-raising, work, school homeschooling, trying to get established in a business or career, serving others, wondering how inflation will affect us, and the other responsibilities and worries that are often thrust upon, we need to make time with the Lord a priority. In fact, more so. I often find that I get more accomplished in less time and have more peace and joy in the process when I do.
Today’s Other Readings:
Joshua 11 & 12:
Occupying the Land
Verse 23 is a key verse in chapter 11:
So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
God had given Joshua and the people victory. However, we will see in tomorrow’s reading that there were still pockets where the Israelites did not completely destroy the pagan nations and those people would cause problems for them over and over in the future.
Notice, also, that God did not give them all the land at once. They had to take it city by city, area by area, and “occupy” it. Otherwise, it would have been left desolate and other groups, possibly even wild animals, would have come in and taken over. God had given them the victory, but they had to do their part to step out in faith and obedience.
Psalm 44.4-19:
When the Victory Hasn’t Come
Here in this psalm the nation had suffered defeat but didn’t understand why. Sometimes when we are doing our part to walk in faith and obedience, we will still go through trials that we don’t understand. That is not the time to give up, but the time to grow in our trust in God and choose to believe that Romans 8.28-29 is true no matter how it looks to us.
God may be pruning and purifying us, not to destroy us, but so we can bear more fruit (Jn. 15.2). Those are the times when we grow the most in our relationship with Him and in spiritual maturity if we’ll continue to trust in and keep our eyes on Him.
Proverbs 14.1-2:
Building Your House or Tearing It Down
The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands (v. 1).
In what ways are you being wise and building your “house”? Your marriage? Your family? In what ways are you growing in wisdom?
In what ways are you tearing your house down with your thoughts? Your words? Your actions?
What will you do to reverse that? Is there a passage of Scripture you need to learn and meditate on? Is there a book you should read or a Bible study you might attend?
For many of us “building our house” means building our relationships with our spouses or becoming better parents. Yesterday I listed some good parenting material. If you need help in that area, you might check out that post.
If you’d like to grow in wisdom and understanding as a husband or wife, two great resources are The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace and The Complete Husband by Lou Priolo.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about the importance of viewing all of life through the lens of Scripture, how our thinking affects our emotions, Satan the accuser, cultural Christianity, and look at the question, “Should you force your religion on your children?”
I hope you’ll join us and if this post spoke to you, please share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
What Is Your Plan to Grow Spiritually This Year?
I hope you’re reading through the Bible with me or you have another reading plan in place. If not, you can sign up for my daily email or subscribe here for the YouTube version.
Following along with me can help you stay on track. And I believe you’ll benefit from the additional information I share and grow as you learn to apply God’s Word to your own life.
Another way that we grow in our Bible knowledge and our ability to share our faith is through discipleship. I’ve linked our latest discipleship lesson, today’s Bible in a Year video, and the first lesson in a course my husband is teaching on YouTube called “Self-Confrontation.” If you’re not familiar with it, consider checking it out. It was life-changing for us when we first took the course 25 years ago and continues to impact our lives.
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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