Luke 10:39-40
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

This is the most important use of our time—to spend it with Jesus, hearing His Word and learning of Him.  It is about fellowship with our Savior, communion with our Lord.  It is worship at times and desperate prayer at others.  It is the most important relationship in our lives, and so it is needful to sit at His feet, not doing anything else or focusing on any other task.  It’s about being willing to give Him all of our attention and to take every opportunity we can to hear from Him.

The truth is, we will make time for what matters to us, and we will make more time for what matters most.  We will set priorities and give first place to those things that are important to us and let other things go when necessary.  We’ll be jealous of that time and not let anything else intrude on it.  So what do our schedules and the way we spend our time say about what is important in our lives?  Are we letting other things intrude on our time with the Lord, or do we keep that time free of other obligations and distractions?

In some ways, Martha in this account represents that part of us that thinks we always need to be doing something, to be productive.  But sometimes the doing becomes a distraction.  Sometimes the doing becomes the focus instead of Jesus.  In our minds, we may be doing it for Jesus, but in our hearts, we just have a need to accomplish something, to have something to show for our time.

Too often it seems like we’re afraid of idle time.  We’re living regimented and scheduled lives where every moment is filled.  We don’t know how to be still and quiet and unoccupied.  But may we be willing to make time for Jesus.  May we be willing to slow down and sit down and see what He might have to share with us.  If we’re feeling frazzled and distracted and overwhelmed by all there is to do, that is the perfect time to find a peaceful place to sit in the presence of our Savior.