"In her eagerness to SERVE Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am reading a book called, "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world." When I read a book like this, i cannot read without a pen or highlighter in hand to mark the lines or points that I want to remember. For me, writing helps me 'hash things out' so to speak. So I am going to be going through the points in this book that hit me and writing about them.

"In her eagerness to serve Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm really busy ALL the time, doing a million things, trying to serve or help in some way. And when I read this quote, I read it several times, and reflected on my own life. I do want to serve Jesus. But when that is ALL we are focusing on, when we can't say no and we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we miss sitting at His feet and getting to better know the One who we desire to serve.

This summer has been difficult for me, because of the fact that for most of it, I wasn't home, and therefore was not the previously mentioned headless chicken. :) But, I see that it was good for me. I relaxed. I spent time reading the Word (not as much as I should) and just having quiet moments to pray and spend time with Him. Being at the stage of life that I am in, without a full time job, not knowing what's next for me, it's been good to have this time of quiet. I definitely need to be focusing my time on spending TIME with Him, not just doing "stuff" for Him.

It is great to serve. But remember that it's also ok to say no. (Something that is taking me a very long time to learn and I am still constantly learning it!) God will give us plenty of opportunity to serve Him if we ask for the chance to do so, but He also wants us. Our hearts. Our attention. Our affection. He desires for a relationship with us. We can't have a relationship with someone we are too busy to talk to. We can't have a relationship, not a good one anyway, with someone we always put off spending time with until "tomorrow."

Be reminded for a minute, how big it is to know that Jesus wants a relationship with US. That's huge! Serve Him boldly and show others the love of Jesus. But make sure that you are daily making time to just sit at His feet, and get to know Him more intimately and in a deeper way. The more we spend time with Him, the more we experience His grace and love, the more we will be able to serve others and show the same grace and love to them as well.

It's hard to give something that you haven't allowed yourself the time to receive. So receive the love of Jesus. Get to know Him more and more. And be amazed at the change He makes in your life.