This past week, our LOG teams focused on a story from the book of Luke. In this story, Jesus is visiting the house of Mary and Martha. We discussed the two sisters and their striking differences. When Jesus came to visit the sisters at their house, Martha was busy with all the preparations that had to be made. Mary, on the other hand, sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what he sharing with her. Jesus reveals to Martha at the end of the text that while what she is doing is important, it is not the MOST important thing. Mary knew that Jesus Himself was the most important thing to focus on in the moment.
While I was preparing for the devotional, I was contemplating where I am in my faith journey; Am I more like Martha, distracted by earthy things? Or am I more like Mary, devoting intentional time and focus on God? When I first attended LOG as a freshman in high school, I was behaving more like Martha. I was distracted by all of the typical high school drama. I had not yet accepted Jesus into my heart, but I knew who He was. It was not entirely my fault that I became sucked into spending all my time with my friends, school, after school activities, and work. I did not know any different at the time. Martha was a follower of Jesus and she still struggled to focus her attention on Jesus. Jesus was in her house and she still needed a reminder on what was ultimately important. Just like Martha, all of the distractions in my life were not sinful or hurtful in any way, just unfocused.
Once I came to my LOG weekend, I was suddenly surrounded by teenagers who knew about God and Jesus’ sacrifice. I quickly became aware of how much they seemed to love God and have a relationship with Him. That is something that I wanted. I needed to become more like Mary. As my journey throughout LOG progressed, I saw the value in focusing my thoughts and time with God. If I wanted that personal connection, I needed to spend time with Him and deepen my newly found faith. I made sure to stay involved in LOG all 4 years of high school, and now as an adult leader.
My high school involvement in LOG was where the foundation of my faith began to form. Everyday I strive to be more and more like Mary, and set time to focus on my relationship with God. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” This verse tells us that as long as we work on focusing our life on God, we will have chosen what is better. We will have chosen what is better than anything on Earth. We will have chosen a life with our God.
-Brittany Stevens -LOG #21