24/7Sample

Day 1: Do You Need a Reset?

By: Rick Isaiah

READY:

“While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.’ The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary.Mary has made the right choice,and it will not be taken away from her.’” - Luke 10:38-41

SET:

There is a commercial that has been out for years that features a bunny rabbit who never stops. He is known as the Energizer Bunny, promoting the Energizer battery. The slogan is that the battery keeps going and going and going, like the rabbit, showing its long-lasting power. This commercial is a great marketing strategy and not to be attempted by humans.

If we keep going and going and going without ever stopping to rest and reset, we are destined for burnout, or at least a serious dip in productivity and focus. Unfortunately, that is exactly what we do to ourselves in the name of our most noble cause or passion: coaching, competing or even working for God. We all know the coach who works tirelessly to prepare his or her respective team, the athlete who is always in the gym and the minister who never stops ministering. One of those could even be us!

There are two sisters in the Bible who give us a peek into what it looks like to grind all day every day, and what it looks like to hit the reset button. Martha was all about the grind and serving. She did it well; you could say it was her love language. The problem is that she let it interfere with being with her Lord and Savior. Reading the account in Luke, we see that Martha became frustrated that her sister Mary was not helping her serve. Mary, on the other hand, is a living example of what it means to hit the reset button. I am sure that with having Martha as a sister, Mary found herself serving quite often. However, when Jesus showed up, Mary decided to stop and sit in His presence, worship, adore and listen to Him. When Martha vented to Jesus and asked for Mary to help her, He reminded her that Mary made the right decision to be with Him in the moment. Sometimes, it’s about stepping back and slowing down, abiding in the presence of God and allowing Him to shift and reset our priorities.

We cannot go 100 mph, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Let’s learn from Mary that there is great wisdom in simply sitting in the presence of our Lord.

GO:

1. Describe a time when you were grinding 24/7 and it wore you out.

2. Describe a time when you slowed down to enjoy God’s presence.

3. What benefits did you receive from spending time with the Lord?

WORKOUT:

Matthew 11:28-30

Romans 12:1-2

Psalm 27:14

Psalm 46:10

OVERTIME:

Father, I come in the name of Jesus, asking that You forgive for the times when I was more focused on serving than sitting in Your presence. Please give me wisdom on when to serve and when to hit the reset button to spend more time with You and Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.