But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

Martha and Mary demanded something from Jesus, but he responded that only one thing is important. If we but dwell in him, what he gives can never be taken away. Being grounded in Christ will hold us stable, centered, and strong.

God is the one who is moved by gut-wrenching compassion and moves near to those who need God’s life and love. Therefore, it is God who will inspire us to go ahead and look. God will put that fire of compassion in our bellies, and God will enable us to act, to do something, to bring life to this hurting world.

It may be the hardest thing about being Christian, being a believer, is truly trusting that it is God and God alone who justifies our lives in the gift of Christ. When we are assured of God’s justification of our lives, we no longer need to obey this instinct to justify ourselves before others or even before God.

Luke alone in the gospels tells the story of the sending of this large group of 72 disciples. This is part of a larger strategic missionary movement that disciples of Jesus will follow after his death, resurrection, and ascension as they go further and further away from Israel into Gentile territory. Like Jesus, do you have an urgency for sharing his message? Do you have a heart of flesh full of the Spirit in tune with the needs of the world? Jesus was always aware of the needs of the world and wanted his disciple to be as well.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. As we pray to the Lord of the harvest our vision and heart become for those who are not yet part of the church. The call of the disciple is to be “all in”; the call of the apostle is to be “all out” in the world in evangelical mission.

Once upon a time, there was a busy little mouse...

Jesus calls his followers to be completely devoted and dedicated to him. He has done everything for us to set us free from the bondage sin and death. Walk in the freedom he has graciously given you by being “all in” with the Holy Spirit and the free gift of God’s salvation.

Both of our passages—Luke and Galatians—speak of freedom in Christ. In Galatians, when Paul says that Christ is our clothing, it means that in God’s sight we are loved because of Jesus’ work and salvation. When God looks at us, he sees us as his children because he sees his Son. That is how Jesus saw the demon-possessed man in Luke. A Christian never needs some additional commitment to the law in order to receive or maintain full acceptance with God, since we are clothed in Christ in whom we are free.

Our fears reveal what we love most. Jesus brings freedom from fear by giving us the thing most worth loving.