The Big Top- Week 1

"Martha," the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.Luke 10:41-42

The Big Top, wild lions jumping through rings of fire, trapeze artists flying through the air, tightrope walkers "oohing" the crowd as they take each death-defying step, the ring master introducing each act.. Description of a circus? Or perhaps our lives. At times we have felt like the tightrope walker balancing on a fine line, sometimes the trapeze artist as we flew through the air wondering who on earth was going to catch us. Many of us have felt like the man who swallowed the flaming sword and who hasn't felt like the lion tamer? And I'm finding as I get older, sometimes I am the bearded lady!

Whether we are single or married, mother or aunt, whether we work outside or inside the home, if we are women period- we have to juggle life. When life gets harried, we want to say to God, "Stop the world and let me get off for just a little bit. I need a breather!" It's at these times, where we need to stop, reexamine what's important and get back to basics. You see, there is a crowd watching this circus. That crowd is namely our children, the lost, the seeking and people who just want to see if there is anything real to this stuff we are presenting to them.

One of the greatest privileges a woman has is to teach the next generation the most important thing there is. She has the opportunity to teach, not just about Jesus, but who He is. To walk the talk. To invest intentional time and effort into relationships and live a life where God is the center of her reality. In the book of Luke, Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made for her dinner guests. Interestingly enough, the word preparations in the Greek means "service or ministry". Ouch. There are lots of things that are good and important, but one thing is necessary- Him. Making God real to others has to start with us. We have to choose what is necessary. How are we nurturing our faith in Jesus? What does our relationship with Him look like? Have we compartmentalized our lives, separating Him from our work, from our activities, from the way we think and speak? Do we just know about Jesus or do we know Him intimately- what He likes and dislikes? Can we recognize His voice from our own? Are we on a journey to discover His heart more and more? Have we made Him life itself? He has created us to know Him intimately (Is. 43:10). Not only has He offered us true Life (Deut. 30:15-20), He is the Bread of Life (John 6:57) that we can feed on. He is the Living Water that we can drink (John 4). He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14) and His love is better than life itself (Ps. 63). If we don't teach the next generation who Jesus is, if we don't demonstrate to the world how He loves, who will? It takes one generation for the faith to cease. It's time for us as women- as mothers, aunts, guardians, grandmothers, friends, daughters, neighbors, coworkers, as Christians- to walk the talk.

Lord, it begins with me. Give me a burning desire for intimacy with You. I want to know You more. I want to walk what I talk. Help me to be a model, not of perfection, but of obedience and faith to those around me. I believe You transform hearts. Begin with mine. Amen.

Jocelyn Hamsher