I’m watching a robin outside my window. Timidly, he looks around, cocking his head side to side. Then, in a quick burst, he takes four quick hops forward and stops. He pecks at the ground, looks around nervously again, takes a few more quick hops, and stops. Why do I feel like that? Why do I feel whenever I’m just getting started on something, somehow, for some reason, I stop? I start out with a quick burst, but it’s never long lived. I want to get busy with what I need to do—what I feel I must do, I’m called to do. But I feel the Lord’s hand on my shoulder just as I’m about to dart out the gate. What, Lord? What is it? His answer came in my Bible reading this morning. Luke 10…The familiar story of Mary and Martha. Admittedly, I sighed. I always had difficulty with that story. I feel Martha’s frustration. Really, she was doing important work! She was preparing dinner for the King of kings—she would nourish Him and make Him comfortable. She would serve the guests as they sat and learned from Jesus. There was much to be done—good work, important work. Yet, how vain to think that God needs anything from us. It is a privilege to work for Him, to be busy about the calling He has on our lives…but it’s not a necessity. God doesn’t require human effort. I think it pleases Him—if we serve with the right intentions—and He certainly uses it in the lives of others. But necessary? No. Even the most important work I do could be accomplished by only a simple command from the lips of God. “Only one thing is necessary,” Jesus tells Martha. “And Mary has chosen it”---to be in the presence of God. Lord, I feel your hand on my shoulder. I know You are telling me to not lose sight of the goal: You, You, and more of You. You are all I need. Anything apart from You is vanity, “chasing after the wind.” May my focus always be You, Lord. Even as I go and do, let me never leave Your presence. Amen.