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Friday, July 07, 2006

Painted Doors/Devotional

I thought I would bring this devotion back to the top of this blog. I was a little too busy today. Then I realized at the end of it, I had forgotten to spend time with our Lord. Too many miles to drive and manuscripts to edit.

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!". . .



Friday morning came and I was not prepared to receive my guests—ten of them to be precise. I drove my daughter to school at 6:45am, my son at 7:30am. Then I was off to race the clock. My first arrivals would surely show up at exactly 9:00am.

My house looks clean and pretty enough, I thought. Nonetheless, I cleaned every window again, emptied the fish tank and refilled it, washed the dishes in steaming hot water all before the fresh coffee brewed and breakfast was made. I asked the Lord to calm my heart.

A little less frazzled in my brain, I wisely decided not to paint the front door. The doors to my kids’ messy rooms stayed closed.

As I hurried through the cleaning and table set-up I realized I was quite proud of my little home and hoped my company would appreciate the whimsical decorations.
When I had a moment to rest, ahead of my visitors’ arrival, I thought of Jesus, my most important guest. Have I done all the right and necessary preparations in my spiritual house? Is it in order?

Are the windows of my heart cleaned or are there still issues I need to Windex? Have I taken care of everything that was set on my plate? How many doors have I shut to keep the clutter of life in, or maybe out, so I don’t have to deal with the noise and the mess? A quick cover of paint and maybe the Lord won’t look behind the door.

“Forgive me Lord. Help me keep my house clean. Teach me to cherish the quiet moments at Your feet. Let it start today.”

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "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." (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)


By Debby A.
Read more devotions at The Gate.

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