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Martha and Mary were sisters. They were both Christians. And both were close friends of the Lord Jesus. Christ visited them often at their house and spent time with them. We read that Martha was busy serving Christ by her cooking and cleaning. She was focused on her work but not really thinking of Christ Himself. But Mary was quiet and resting, sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing His words. Which one pleased Christ the most? The answer is quite clear from the passage. Jesus correcting Martha said, “One thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be take away from her” (Luke 10:42). Let us think about these words of Christ. And by God’s grace let us all become more like Mary and less like Martha.

Just like Martha we all have busy lives. We all have many responsibilities. Some of these are important like our job and school. These take a lot of our time. Other things are less important, but they take our time as well. And we also spend time doing the work of the church in evangelism and taking care of new people. It is good to work and to get many things done. I believe in it. But if we are not careful, we can go through the entire day not thinking of Christ, or not thinking of Him very much. That would be a big mistake. So Jesus’ words to Martha also apply to us. One thing is needful for us to do daily – to sit as Jesus’ feet and hear His Word. And just like Mary, this is something we must choose to do. And Jesus told Martha that the time Mary spent with Him could not be taken away from her. This means that time spent with Christ is of everlasting value to our souls. That’s how important spending time with Christ is. How then do we sit at Jesus’ feet today and hear His Words? We do it by devoting time in our day to the Word of God and to prayer. This is our daily devotion with Christ. It is the one thing needful for us to do during the day.

I. First, how do we have daily devotion with Christ?

We have daily devotion with Christ when we set aside time to read our Bible. The Bible is no ordinary book. It is God’s Word. And in John chapter one, we read that Christ is the Eternal Word of God. God’s Word, the Bible, is the very expression or thoughts of God Himself given to us through Christ. So as we read the Bible, God reveals Himself to us through Christ. And when we read the Bible, we are spending time with Christ Himself. This is needful for our souls. The Bible said,

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2).

As babies cannot grow without milk, neither can Christians grow without reading the Bible. That’s why we must read the Bible daily. God knows all of our needs. He knows that our bodies need food. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray,

“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

We live spiritually by feeding on God’s Word, the Bible. The time we spend with Christ reading His Word will strengthen our souls. And the Bible is especially powerful in our lives if we memorize it. So after you do your daily Bible reading spend a minute or two working on your memory verse.

We have daily devotion with Christ when we set aside time to pray. When we pray, we are spending time with Christ. This is because all of our prayers must go through Christ before they reach the ears of God the Father. The Apostle Paul wrote,

“Through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).

Through Christ our prayers have access to or get to God. And through Christ’s Blood we can pray boldly coming into the very presence of God Himself!

So we begin our prayers with Christ when He delivers our prayers to God. And we also end our prayers with Christ when we say, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Christ is involved in all parts of our prayers, from beginning to end. So as we pray we spend time with Christ Himself.

We give you a “devotional sheet” every week. On this sheet there is a daily Bible reading. If you’re new, just read the New Testament reading every day. Later on, as you get used to reading the Bible, you can read the Old Testament portion, too. The devotional sheet also reminds you to pray for at least 5 minutes and thank God for your food daily. Pray for the pastor, pray for others, pray for your own needs. Our daily devotion includes Bible reading and prayer. It’s the time of the day when we spend time with Christ alone. Try to do it at the same time every day. It doesn’t have to take long, but the important thing is to do it. Have daily devotions whether you’re lost or saved. And the time with Christ during your daily devotion will help you greatly.

We have our own personal devotional time with Christ. The Apostle Paul told Timothy,

“Take heed unto thyself” (I Timothy 4:16).

Paul was warning the young pastor, Timothy, that he must pay attention to his own spiritual condition. Because Paul knew that if Timothy was careless about his own heart, he could be of little use to God in his ministry to others. The solution for Timothy to be in a good spiritual state, and for all of us, is to spend time with Christ daily. Jesus Himself said,

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth [remains] in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

How can we be most useful to God in our ministry? Or, how do we bring forth much spiritual fruit in our Christian lives? Christ gives us the answer. We do so by abiding or remaining with Christ. A real Christian will always remain connected to Christ. He can never lose his salvation. But that is not what the Apostle John is referring to. He is talking about the closeness of a Christian’s fellowship with Christ. We maintain this closeness with Christ through our daily devotions, our reading the Bible and praying daily. This is the way we spend time with Christ and maintain close fellowship with Him. This is how we can be fruitful in our ministry.

Our personal devotional time with Christ is intimate and most precious. This is the time that we meditate upon the Word of God and see what God would have us to know and do. It is here that we cast our cares upon God in secret prayer. This is the time I pray for the young people. This is the time I pray for the pastor to lead our church. This is the time I pray for conversions and revival. Every Sunday I receive a copy of the prayer request cards that the pastor and Dr. Cagan receive. And this is the time that I pray for these. Most of these prayer requests are for the new people. What a blessing to know that our young people and older people are thinking and praying for our new people! No wonder God is bringing in so many of the new people in answer to our prayers. I spend time thanking God for His goodness and His answering our prayers. I sing the songs from the song sheet and meditate upon the beauty of Christ. I end by saying the Lord’s Prayer.

No one else enters into the most intimate time we spend with God and Christ in prayer. Jesus said,

“When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6).

Oh, what a relief from our burdens when we arise from off our knees after our times of secret prayer! We have given our troubles to God. And we trust that He will take care of them. God will reward us openly with answers to our secret prayers. Oh, the blessedness of our personal devotions with Christ in Bible reading and in prayer!

We have our family devotion time with Christ. If the father of the home is a Christian, it is his responsibility that he lead in family devotions. He does so by reading the Bible daily to them and then leading in prayer. As a child, Timothy was read the Bible. God later used this to help him to trust Christ. The Apostle wrote concerning him,

“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).

Learning the Bible did not save Timothy. It was faith in Christ that saved him. But God used his knowledge of the Bible to be a help in him later having faith in Christ. A father cannot raise his children to become Christians. Salvation is God’s work and His work alone. But the father can lead in family devotions in Bible reading and prayer. He can make sure that the family spends time with Christ regularly. This will give strong impressions to the children of the importance of Christ in their lives. They will remember the time of family devotion even when they are adults.

And then Christ said,

“That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19-20).

Christ promises His presence and answers to “anything that they shall ask” when two or more pray together. So we do not need to wait to come to church to have Christ’s promise of the power of group prayers. We can have this power in prayer with husband and wife, and in the family during family prayers.

We may sing through one or two of the hymns during our family devotions, or I may review briefly a point or two from the pastor’s sermons from the previous Sunday. We end by me saying the closing prayer followed by all of us saying the Lord’s Prayer.

II. Second, what will our daily devotion with Christ do for us?

I already spoke of how important our daily devotion with Christ is. But there are many other blessings as well.

Our daily devotion will help us to become more like Christ. As we spend time with Christ in Bible reading and prayer He will become the desire of our hearts. We will want to become more like Him. When we are with a person that we love and respect, we become a little like that person. The Apostle Paul wrote,

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

As you spend time with Christ in your personal devotions, your mind and your thoughts will become more like His mind and His thoughts.

The Apostle Paul was probably more like Christ than any man who has ever lived. Yet, he was not satisfied with how well he knew Christ. He was not satisfied with what He had done for Christ. He wrote,

“That I may know him [Christ], and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).

Let us desire to know Christ more and to have the power of His resurrection on our ministry! This will be achieved by spending more precious time with Christ. Let us then look forward to our daily devotions with Him!

Our daily devotion with Christ will refresh our soul. We must never think that our time of devotion with Christ is yet more work to do in our busy day. No, our time with Christ will refresh our souls. Remember Martha who was weighed down with her busy activities. And compare her to Mary who was resting at Jesus’ feet and hearing His word. Oh, that we would learn to become less like Martha and more like Mary! Jesus said,

“Learn of me…and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

Let us learn of Christ during our time of devotion with Him. And He promises that we will find rest for our weary souls. During our daily devotions with Christ we escape from the cares of this world. It is at this time that we can set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

Our daily devotion with Christ will help us run the Christian race. The Christian life can be compared to a long race or a marathon. And there are ups and downs. Sometimes it may feel difficult to continue on. How can we continue in this race without growing tired? The Apostle Paul gives us the answer. He wrote,

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1, 2).

As we look to Jesus and spend time with Him during our daily devotions, we can run the Christian race and not give up. We will not grow weary because Christ will strengthen us. We do a lot of ministry in our evangelism and taking care of the new people. But we can also grow tired if we do it by our own strength. Like Martha we can be busy serving Christ but not really thinking of Him very much. While we work for Christ, let us think of Christ! Let us draw our strength from Christ! Let us make sure we spend time with Christ daily in our devotions with Him. And may God bless you as you do it!

You say, “I’m lost. Is there a message for me in what you have said?” I say, “Most definitely, yes.” Because Christ is the answer whether you’re lost or saved. Sitting down at Jesus’s feet and hearing His Word is the one thing needed for both the lost and saved. Perhaps your mind is filled with busy thoughts of how to trust Christ or how to believe in Christ. And you’ve become tired of all that. That is not what you need. That will not help you. The one thing needful for you to do is to settle your thoughts, sit at Jesus’ feet, and hear His Word. Christ said,

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Are you tired of carrying the burden of your sin? Then listen to the kind words of the loving Saviour as He offers to take away your burden of sin. Come to Him. Trust Him. He will give you rest for your souls and cleanse all of your sins in His Blood. Amen.

(END OF SERMON)
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