“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:38-42)  One of the primary occupational hazards of being a Christian leader (be it clergy or lay) is to become performance rather than faith driven.  By that, there is always the temptation to believe that we are justified by all that we are doing for Jesus rather than by simply Jesus, himself.  Martha is busy and it seems that she is busy doing important and essential things: the house needs cleaning and the guests need feeding (the meetings need attending and the sermons need preaching!).  It just sometimes makes a person want to ask, “Don’t you care, Jesus?  Don’t you care about all the good that I am doing in your name?”  To which, I imagine, our Lord kindly and graciously responds: “Yes, I do care and I appreciate all that you do.  However, you need to remember that most of all, I care about you!”  As the years go by, I continue to discover that success and efficiency in my efforts does not come from my determination and cleverness.  Instead, it begins when I remember all that Jesus has done and is doing; and by pausing there, I discover the “better part.”  Where do you need to pause this week?  Where do you need to let the Lord do the heavy lifting?  How do you need to recall that you can choose the better part because Jesus has already chosen you?  Have a great week!