Hi and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Priority of God's Presence was written by Kimya Loder.

In 2009, a research team at Stanford University studied more than 200 students in an experiment

that included switching between tasks and memory exercises.

Surprisingly, the study found that students who viewed themselves as good multitaskers

because they were in the habit of doing several things at a time, did worse than those who preferred

to perform one task at a time. Multitasking made it more difficult to focus their thoughts

and filter irrelevant information. Maintaining focus when our minds are distracted can be a challenge.

When Jesus visited Mary and Martha's home in Luke

Chapter 10, Martha was busy working and distracted by all the preparations. Her sister Mary

chose to sit and listen to Jesus teach, gaining wisdom and peace that would never be taken

away from her. When Martha asked Jesus to encourage Mary

to help her, he responded, you were worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed,

or indeed, only one. God desires our attention, but like Martha, we're often distracted by tasks and problems. We neglect

God's presence, even though he alone can provide the wisdom and hope we need. When we make

spending time with him through prayer and meditating on scripture a priority, he'll give us the

guidance and strength we need to address the challenges we face.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Luke chapter 10,

verses 38 through 42.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha

opened her home to him.

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he said.

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