You know what happened… Jesus visits the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). Mary enjoys connecting with Jesus, but Martha is preoccupied with the busyness of hospitality. When “busy” Martha complains about “lazy” Mary, Jesus responds by saying, “Mary has chosen what is better.”

The lesson is painfully clear: being lazy with Jesus is a better choice than busyness.

There will always be more to do! There’s that volunteer meeting on Tuesday, neighbors coming over for dinner, two high school games that you promised you’d see, bills piling up that need attention, email that’s out of control, two Bible studies to prepare, a game to find, a Fall discipleship weekend that needs your attention, and you haven’t even cleaned up everything from the summer. Your to-do list is so long that you’ve added “get through the to-do list” to it. There’s a lot going on now.

So many ministry leaders are tired of rushing from one activity to the next, constantly checking our schedules, arriving late, and always feeling a bit elsewhere after we arrive. There’s a gnawing sense in our guts that we can’t keep up the pace…and truth be known, we don’t want to. Most youth workers I talk to are tired of being tired all the time, tired of the emptiness that comes from too much busyness and not enough Jesus.

Thankfully, there’s a better option than running on empty. Jesus invites us to walk instead of run… to sit instead of work. Jesus calls us to come to Him and find rest for our weary souls. The fullness of life seems to be about choosing that which is better over that which is busy. A full-life and/or ministry is not about being busy all the time (even busy doing good, ministry-type things). Our invitation as leaders, and those who follow Jesus, is to sit at the feet of the Person who is the source of all fullness.

Yes, there are real tasks to accomplish today, just as there were in Mary and Martha’s day, and you can’t be lazy all day and keep your job. But, it seems like there’s wisdom found in the words of Jesus when he affirmed Mary’s choice as best. As a leader, the people who follow you, they need you to make the choice to accept Jesus’ invitation of connection and rest and enjoy His presence… at least some part of today.