Adjustments Needed

My motto is “life is adjustable.”  If you have more month than money, you have to adjust your spending to match your income. When the waistline begins to expand, you will need to adjust to a healthier diet.  You might find that you are being a little snippy with people. That means you might have to adjust your attitude. A friend of mine got a couple of speedy tickets. He needed to adjust his driving. If we are honest, we all need to make some adjustments to our lives. There is a great story about a woman who needed to adjust her life in Luke 10:38-42.

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, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

Martha’s first mistake was comparison. She told Jesus that she was working hard, and that Mary was just sitting around. We often compare our lives to others. Typically, we find a person to compare our lives to who will make us look good. Martha’s first adjustment would be not to compare her life to anyone else's and to keep her focus on Jesus. 

There is an old saying that describes Martha’s second issue - Too much time in the kingdom and not enough time with the King. It said she was distracted with all the preparations. While it doesn’t say the exact distractions, I imagine she was distracted by food preparations. She wanted them to eat well. Food was never an issue for Jesus. If needed, Jesus could have provided food for everyone. Gordon MacDonald, in his book Ordering Your Private World, talks about the barrenness of busyness. Jesus warns Martha about that in this story.   

 Martha’s third misstep was not having a priority. We often say, I have to get my priorities straight. Jesus teaches that there is only one priority in Matthew 6:33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus tells Mary that there is only one priority, and that is him. If you get that priority straight, everything else will be good.

“Life is adjustable” is my motto. When I read a story like this and apply it to my life, I automatically see the adjustments that I need to make. 1) Stop comparing my life to others and focus on Jesus. 2) Beware of the barrenness of busyness. 3) Make sure Jesus is the priority in my life. If I make these adjustments, I will have chosen what was better like Mary. 

Adjusting to Shine Brightly

    There is an old saying that reminds us that we won’t make our candle any brighter by blowing out someone else’s candle. Another way this truth has been explained is that no one has ever become skinny by calling someone else fat. If we are honest, this is when we try to make ourselves look good without doing the hard work of adjusting our lives to be better. Our goal is to magnify someone else’s flaws so that we will look good. It most often ends with us selling ourselves as the solution and becoming the savior of the situation. 

    Through the years, I have watched people use this method as a way to seize power. They usually paint someone as the villain or incompetent. Then they point to themselves as the one who can save the day. Paul has something to say about this type of action. He warns us about what he calls unwholesome talk in Ephesians 4:29. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. If I understand unwholesome talk correctly, it is talk that we might use to put someone else’s candle out so that we will look good. Paul says to adjust our talk to build others up. If you have been a victim of someone trying to put out your candle, you know how hard it is not to respond with your own candle-extinguishing words. That should not be the way a Christ-follower responds.

    
In our super competitive world, it is easy to slip into this type of unwholesome talk. As a Christ follower, I must find a way to shine bright and help others shine brightly for our Lord. Paul tells us how to shine for our king in Philippians 2:14-15.  Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.  If we shine brightly and others shine brightly, we will show more people the way to Jesus. That is what God calls us to do.