Bible Study: Acts 6, 1 to 7 and John
6, 16 to 21.
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at
table…” Those were the words of the Apostles when there arose a complaint in
the early church about unfair distribution of food. These words reveal that the
Apostles clearly understood the concept of spiritual priority; they knew that
in the work of God, some things are more important than others. They would not
neglect the work of the word for the work of the table. Both were necessary but
one was more important.
I am pretty sure that the Apostles of Jesus learnt their lesson
about spiritual priority from Jesus himself. If you recall, once upon a time,
Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha, the sisters of his beloved friend
Lazarus. While Martha was busy all over the place trying to serve at table,
Mary simply sat at the feet of Jesus listening to him. Martha was surprised
that Jesus was not bothered that Mary didn’t come to help at the kitchen and
when she could not take it any longer, she protested: “Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10, 40 to 42.
You see, the GOOD PORTION is not to be busy serving at tables
but to create time just for personal adoration and study of the Word of God. We
live in an age where even ministers of God are so busy with everything else
that they barely have time for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They
are present in every occasion, they bless homes, the run schools, they run
hospitals, they attend board meetings, they are always flying from one
conference to another, and so on but when it comes to spending even one hour of
personal meditation with Jesus daily, they say there is no time!
You cannot be a spiritual person if you lack priority! Truly that
time spent with Jesus might look like wasted time to an unspiritual mind but
for you, you know that even Jesus himself who came with the great task of
saving the entire world still had time to spend alone in prayer. Hence he would
wake up very early in the morning to pray all by himself and late in the night
as well. In our Gospel passage, Jesus was alone at prayer when he noticed the
disciples were having a hard time on the river and he came walking to them on
water.
No one can have a greater work than Jesus himself so whether you
like it or not, there is always time for something that you consider important.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, teach me to prioritize properly as I grow in my
spiritual life. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be
Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Have a great weekend.
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