December is such a special month, and I always love to do something extra special on Joe

for my favorite people, you, my listeners. So all month long, I'll be highlighting some favorites

from the OG series that launched this podcast way back in the start called Five Word Prayers. I know many of

you will be very happy about that. These short, usually five minutes or less shows are perfect for

a busy holiday season to bring you the hope and encouragement we all so desperately need.

So here we go. I'm reminded today of the story in Luke 10 where Jesus is on the earth doing traveling ministry and he's on his way to Jerusalem and it says in verse 38 and beyond.

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught,

but Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said,

Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?

Tell her to come and help me. The Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset

over all these details. There's only one thing worth being

concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. It's a familiar

passage, I think, the Mary and Martha story, and I'm not here to shame Martha because, look,

I have been her far too many times. In fact, just the other day, I had to stop and really evaluate

where my doing and being with God was,

and I had to repent because my doing for God was outweighing my being with Him.

It's something that I think is so easy to fall into for a lot of us.

And one of the things I love about God the very most is how He's always there for me.

But in that, I can't then take that for granted or

treat it lightly because he is the great God of the universe and he longs to have a relationship

with me where I'm not in a hurry to run off, but rather to sit and dwell and be with him. And

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