One reason I love the Bible is because God repeats Himself.
This repetition shows God’s grace in dealing with those of us who don’t pay attention to what He is saying the first time.
We don’t seem to get it at first pass. So He tells us some of the same things multiple times in multiple ways throughout His Word.
If you think of it, the length of the Bible is further evidence of God’s grace.
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 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.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42
So here we have Martha the doer and Mary the hearer. The question is – is Jesus saying that one is right and one is wrong?
Did Jesus say that Martha was wrong for serving? No. Serving is not wrong, in fact Jesus teaches us to serve throughout Scripture.
It’s important to consider each word in Scripture when you study. Jesus said that Martha was “distracted with much serving” or in other words, “anxious with a lot of ministry”.
The idea is that she had too much to do. Why was it too much? Because she did not have time for the Lord.
He was teaching her (and us) that she was out of balance. Her priorities were not in order. She was not focused at all on Jesus and His teachings.
Have you ever been out of balance? I have!
Instead, we should strive to find the right balance – the balance of hearing and doing. It is not either/or. It is both/and. It is not choose one over the other. It is choose both!
Warren Wiersbe said that we should imitate Martha in our service and Mary in our worship.
Do not be a hearer only. But also, do not be a doer only. Both of these extremes are out of balance!
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
Proverbs 13:20
The company we keep is important. The friends we have influence us in one direction or the other. We must have discernment in our social relationships, a vital area of family vision.
Parents, for your children, You ARE their discernment while they are still young. That is your job as a parent.
Part of developing healthy social relationships is the development of social skill. These skills are so important as children become young adults and then become adults seeking employment. People with good social skills, who know how to wisely, correctly treat others and build relationships, go much farther and faster than adults who do not know how to interact well with others.
Studies from the Carnegie Institute of Technology revealed that 15% of success in a career is the skill/expertise/technical knowledge, while 85% is due to skill in relationships – personality and the ability to relate to and lead other people. (Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People)
As part of inventing the future of your family, have a vision for your social health! Do not just think about what is now – think about what could be in the future! Work to cultivate wise, healthy relationships with those around you.
Onesimus was a slave and servant of Philemon. He had run away from Philemon and evidentally robbed him in the process. This runaway slave came into contact with the Apostle Paul and through Paul’s witness, trusted in Christ. An incredible divine appointment!
So Paul is writing his letter, which we know as the book of Philemon in the Bible, to address the situation. He is informing Philemon that he is sending Onesimus back to him.
I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus Philemon 4-6
In times of difficulty, we can get distracted from our true priorities. Paul prayed that during this challenging time, Philemon would do some specific things, and they apply to us as well.
How to Live with Purpose in Difficult Times:
1 – Grow in Our Knowledge of Christ
“Acknowledgement” in the verses above means a deep or true understanding.
The more fully we understand the blessings we have in Christ, the more willing we are to share Him with others.
In times of crisis, there is often more “free time” as a result. Whether a natural disaster, social unrest, or health pandemic, crises often create margin for people that they are not accustomed to while waiting for the situation to pass.
So use this extra time to grow closer to the Lord!
2 – Grow in Our Witness for Christ
Even in times of trouble, we should be focused on sharing our faith. Don’t let a crisis distract you from telling others about Christ!
Has salvation become any less important during times of crisis? Of course not! In fact, more people are thinking about life and death, more people are experiencing fear, more people are looking for hope.
Look for divine opportunities to share Christ even during a crisis time.
Doing these two things will give purpose to difficult seasons in life.
We are rapidly moving away from a literary society to a visual society. Globally, we would rather watch something than read something. The death of newspapers. The rise of Youtube.
What does this mean for the written Word of God? Well, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that there is much healthy discussion on visualization in the church these days. Artists like Makoto Fujimura have written extensively on the subject of visual theology. Visual theology, he says, “happens, when we are engaged with scriptures, with fulness of our imaginations”. I agree. It is a good thing when our minds are creatively engaged with Scripture in such a way that they come to life for us.
Indeed, for centuries Christians have portrayed biblical narratives in creative visual ways (think Medieval stained glass to 1960s flannel graph). Kids like to build Bible scenes out of LEGOS. You get the point. This supplementation of the Bible is good, healthy, and God honoring.
The bad news is that as many people are less and less interested in reading, they are less interested in reading the Bible.
They are more drawn to the latest instagram photo with some overlayed words from a Christian pop song that may or may not be theologically correct.
God has given His Word in literary form precisely to engage with our hearts and minds in that way. Why? I don’t know – but that’s what He chose to do.
Are we so naive to think that the god of this world is not using the expanding availability of visual stimulation to influence us away from God’s written Word? We must find balance in this, our visual world, and as believers hold on to the written Word as our primary influence.
Probably weekly we ask a friend “did you see that video?”
What we should be asking is “have you read that passage?”
Sola Scriptura