[only one thing]

I said I'd write more often with less words, so here's day one of everyday Easter. A day that started with a chilly run, good coffee and great Bible time.

Then I leave my cozy house for the church, and before I know it, I'm fresh out of patience. It really should warn me when it's below half like a gas gauge you know? But I ask myself, where is the Easter victory in this? In the not-bad-but-frustrating days where nothing you wanted to accomplish got done. Where your to-do list only increased onto page 98.

But as I write, I'm reminded of Jesus' words to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. I picture them soft-spoken but firm, correcting yet graceful, as He rebukes her for unnecessary anxiety. "'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.'"

The one thing? Not to-do's. Not undones. Not should-have-gotten-to-that-last-week. Just resting in the truth that God does not condemn me nor anyone for what we do and do not accomplish in our day to day tasks. Just remembering that my worth is not my work-output, timeliness or efficiency. That's how the world measures us. That's how the world values us, but that's not God's way.  And that, my friends, is Easter.

The one thing? It's worship. It's resting in a God who loves us enough to purchase our freedom and pay our ransom on the cross. And nothing we do or leave undone changes that. My value is not in what I accomplish "for" God. My value is in being His.

Mary worshiped Jesus as Martha stressed about tasks. And though that's backwards to the world, Mary chose what was better.