Good or Better?

My husband and I were talking the other night and the thought that came to me to contemplate is; are we choosing the good or the better?  What do I mean by that?  There are so many things that we can spend our time doing, we all have twenty-four hours in a day and each of us must decide how we are going to spend them...there are a myriad of things we can do in any given moment, too many in fact.  I know when I have a few minutes to do anything I want, there are many times that I really do not know how to use to that time to its fullest advantage.  Should I read a book (oh, then there's the question as to which one), watch a movie, write a poem or a song, play my guitar or the piano, take a nap, clean some corner of the house that has been neglected, take a walk, call a friend, write in my journal, pray, I think you can see what I mean, after all, I am sure that you too have found yourself in this quandary.  Maybe the decision-making process is easier for you than for me, but do you ever feel like if you have chosen one thing that you are now missing out on something else?  The question that I pose again is this?  Am I (or you) choosing the better, among so many "good" things, by good, I mean nothing that is inherently evil or bad, but maybe it is just a distraction from the "best" thing.  Okay, so who decides what is the best thing and even if we think we have chosen the best thing, is it really the best?  How would we ever know?  I know, I know, I'm talking in circles here and I am definitely not trying to be legalistic or put anyone under a load of guilt.  I think I just think of this sometimes because of all the distractions in our world today, particularly in our day and age.  I think of how much simpler life used to be before iPods, cell phones, tablets, computers, and even dishwashers (do we really save time putting dishes in the dishwasher and then taking them all out again rather than just doing them by hand... just thinking out loud).

I am reminded of the scripture where Mary and Martha are in a tiff- Mary is practically demanding our Savior to "tell Mary to help me!"  And how does Jesus respond? "Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her".  What was Mary doing?  She was sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to Him, probably in awe of her master who she was sitting in front of.  What was Martha doing?  Nothing "wrong" per se and yet she had chosen the good in place of the better or best...Is Jesus clueless about all the things that we have to do in a day?  Is He without compassion to our mounds of laundry and loads of dishes?  I don't believe so, I think it was a timing issue- Remember the scripture about not the disciples not needing to fast while their Master was with them.  I think it was a similar case.  I think Martha might have gotten her priorities a little out of whack.  Did she really know who was sitting on her couch, in her very own living room?  I think she meant well too, but she was almost trying so hard that she ended up focusing on the wrong things.  She too could have just sat with Mary at Jesus' feet.  Would they have really gone hungry if she didn't rush up to take care of things?  After all, Jesus IS the bread of life!

This is what we forget so often, that Jesus is the author AND perfecter of our faith.  We cannot live this life for one minute without our Savior!  Sure, it often feels like we are doing it on our own, but the fact is that He gave us the very breath that we are breathing right now!

I want to choose the better.  I think I am mulling this over, not because I will ever have the perfect answer.  I will never get the proverbial "A" on the test called life. The reason I bring this question up is so that maybe I think twice about what I am choosing to do at any given time and maybe I will look to my God who has "my times in His hands" and ask Him what He would like for me to do- to be spirit led and spirit directed in how I use my time and talents.  I want the better even as Mary did.