I remember the story of a man with large, empty fish aquarium. The man had some large rocks, smaller pebbles, and some very fine sand to fill this aquarium. In order to get fit everything into the aquarium, the larger rocks had to go in first, followed by the smaller pebbles, and finally the sand. The point of the story is that we need to focus on the big, important things in our lives. Jesus will becomes the biggest rock in your life, if you let Him! It is imperative that you place Him first in everything. There are Christians who fail to do this everyday! They pay dearly for it. How do they pay? Ask them about their marriages, their children, their jobs, their lives, and the troubles that fill up their lives like sand.
If you have been mad at God for a long time, ask yourself "why"? Whatever happened or did not happen, did God really cause it? God so loved this world that He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to die on a cross, so that we might be reconciled to Him. Is this the kind of God who puts sickness on a child? Why would God do that? The Bible tells us in Matthew 7: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” How much more does our Heavenly Father know how to give than our earthly parents? When God gave us His son Jesus, there was nothing else comparable with that gift.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his "I have a Dream Speech", but Dr. King also wrote a famous letter from jail called, "Letter from Birmingham Jail". This letter is in response to white religious leaders criticism of his nonviolent objection to the segregation in Birmingham. After reading the letter, a person of common understanding and common sense would have to agree that even though Dr. King was in jail, jail was not in Dr. King.
It is easy to start a project, to start a diet, to start a new job, to start a new marriage. However, it is another matter to finish any of those things. It takes a decision to stay the course when the honeymoon is over and reality sets in that marriage is not always easy. Marriage is not always easy but it is always wonderful if you decide it will be wonderful. There is a story of a family in the old west coming to a new town and seeing an older man sitting at the entrance to the town. They ask him about the town and what the people are like. He in turn asks them how the people were of the town they left and they indicated the people were bitter and hard to get along with, so the man tells them it is about the same here. Another couple comes up and asks the man the same question. He asks them the same question he asked the first couple. This couple says the people were great, so the man tells them the people were great here.
Do you ever feel frantic? Are there moments when the pace of life is so demanding that you are unsure whether you can "keep it together". The world has gone crazy. We live in a never ending news cycle that brings bad news. It is easy to fall prey and become absorbed in the daily crisis. News organizations thrive off the latest crisis. Fear is the greatest weapon that nations can wield. President Roosevelt said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Between our jobs, marriages, children, parents and the multitude of other obligations we have, down time seems unrealistic.
Is your walk with Jesus vital? Were you more excited about Him and His word in the past? Perhaps you have grown weary in well doing? Perhaps the business of life has captured your attention and you have departed from the "better part"? Martha was caught up in doing good things that needed to be done. People need to eat and the day Jesus visited there was certainly a crowd to feed. Martha saw Mary as wasting her time instead of helping. Mary was at the feet of Jesus listening intently to every word he uttered. Mary knew that life was in Jesus words. In fact, everything was in His words.
Imagine for a moment you are a prosecutor and a woman has just been brought before the people who had been caught in the act of adultery breaking the Law of Moses. You may think to yourself, how can I lose this one to the public defender? The punishment for the crime of adultery is stoning. There are people and plenty of stones to throw. Then imagine the religious leaders want to test this radical named Jesus, and they ask Him what should be done with this woman. Jesus does not respond quickly as is His custom, but rather begins to write on the ground. Again the accusers want an answer. Jesus sees this woman with great compassion. Jesus knows the law and what it requires death by stoning. Jesus also makes a statement at another time that He did not come to destroy the law but rather to fulfill it.
Finish Strong Never Quit 
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