The Most Important Word for Your Daily Walk

Getting out of Martha Mode

I don't know about you, but I find myself prone to living in Martha Mode (Luke 10:38-42). Though she had Jesus right there in front of her, she could not put down the day's duties and just appreciate Him. 

I can relate to her completely. There is always more to do for the Lord, more ways to grow, more shortcomings to iron out.

Because of this, spiritual rest is hard to come by. For some of us, we're not even sure how to let ourselves rest in Christ. Even when growth happens it can't properly be appreciated, because there will always be another battle up ahead. 

But our Savior calls us to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28). Likewise, the 23rd Psalm does not give us the picture of a frantic, frazzled sheep, but one that is at perfect peace in its Shepherd's care. 

Our ability to process any of these things properly starts with a single word: gratitude.

Consider how much of our Christian lives are to be grateful responses to His character and deeds:

As with the narrative of Psalm 23, we are to be reactive in our processing rather than proactive. Rather than looking at the Valley of the Shadow of Death and taking it on ourselves to figure out how we're going to get through it, we remember He's with us and we don't even have to worry about it.

Further, we have verses like,

"We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

For time's sake, I won't paste Ephesians 2:1-9 in here, but it drives home the same point in even greater detail. 

It is God's love for us that led Jesus to the cross, and everything we do in response is due to our recognition of His work. Our love begins from a place of gratitude as we see what He's done for us.

That's why gratitude is the single most important word. When we see and appreciate His love, we can't help but love in return.

However, when we're in Martha Mode, we miss all of that. We put the heavy burden right back on our own shoulders, missing the fact that we can commune with our Creator at any moment. 

Gratitude is the key.

You want to experience spiritual rest? Spend more time in gratitude. He's already lifted the burden of our shortcomings.

You want to grow in those areas that remain to be addressed? Start with gratitude and you'll realize that He's helped you this far, and He won't leave you alone for the rest of your journey.

You want to feel daily peace for life's stresses? Gratitude reminds us how He's already carried us through a million other stresses, many of which felt insurmountable at the time.

The best thing you can do to live a life of peace and of greater spiritual dedication and production is to start and end every day with gratitude.