The very first thing that Jesus taught after His being anointed with the Holy Spirit was that we cannot live if we don't receive the words that God speaks. We can't fulfill God's purpose and satisfy His heart, if we merely serve Him. A lot of Christians find a satisfaction in saying, "I'm doing this for the Lord," "I'm doing that for the Lord," "I'm running an orphanage,""I'm running a Bible School and I'm helping people," "I'm giving money to these people who are in need," and "I'm going here and doing that." They're always thinking of what they're doing for the Lord. I don't despise that. We need to serve the Lord till He comes, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." I want to do that till the end of my life, until Christ comes, "always abounding in the work of the Lord." I never want to stop serving the Lord. So I'm not despising that.

I believe we must serve, but I'd say more important than service, is receiving the Word of God. "Man shall not live by serving God alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." These are the first spoken words of Jesus after His anointing, so it must be very significant. Of all that Jesus taught, here was the very first thing: learn to receive the Word of God continuously every day. The Scriptures must come alive to you every day. 

In the early days, people didn't have a Bible like we have today. We are so privileged to have the Bible. We must read the Bible every day, if we are going to receive God's Word every day. In the early days, when they didn't have a Bible, they could still receive the Holy Spirit reminding them of what they heard from the apostles. A Christian who doesn't have a Bible, who is imprisoned for his faith and sitting in a prison, can still receive God's Word every day even though he doesn't have a Bible open in front of him, because he has read it in the days when he was not in prison. That's why it's so important to read and meditate on God's Word, because in our moment of need, God through the Holy Spirit will give us that particular word that will be the solution to our problem, and that'll be the answer to our need and the promise that we can claim.

This is illustrated in a story in Luke 10:38-42. There we read about Jesus entering the house of Mary and Martha. Martha received Him into the house, and went to prepare some food for Him, while her sister Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to His word. Now remember, connect this with what we read earlier, that "man shall not live by food alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth." Here are the two options, food and sitting at Jesus's feet. Is food important? Yes, it is. But what's more important is receiving the word that proceeds from God's mouth. This is illustrated so vividly here in these two sisters.

Martha was distracted with preparing food. For whom? Not for herself. She was very, very unselfish. Do you know how much labour it takes to cook food for 13 hungry men (Jesus and His twelve disciples)? She was slogging away in the kitchen, working hard not for herself, but for the Lord. She was spending her money, going to the market, and getting things to prepare food for the Lord. She was spending time, money, energy, and sacrificing to do work for the Lord. Maybe you're like that. Maybe you're sacrificing time, money, and energy doing so many things for the Lord here and there. Good. You might think, like Martha might have thought, "well, when I've done all this and I come before the Lord, He's is going to say, 'well done, good and faithful servant. You've done a great job!'" But that's not what she hears. When she came to Jesus, she was irritated with her sister Mary inwardly. Whenever a person is not at rest in his heart, it means something is wrong. She was not at rest. She was wondering, "why is Mary not coming and helping me?" and Jesus rebukes her. He says, "Martha, food is not the most important thing. To hear My word is far more important, and that's what Mary has chosen, and that will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). Do you see what Jesus means by, "Man shall not live by food alone"? What did Jesus want from Martha first? All that service? What does Jesus want from you? Service is good. We read later on that Mary served Jesus by pouring out perfume at His feet, and so we know that service is important; but the first, most important thing was to receive the Word of God. That is what Jesus taught.

We must learn this lesson first of all, that one thing is needful. Not 25 things. Luke 10:42 tells us to sit at Jesus' feet every day, to have that attitude all the time, and to receive what He has to say to us personally.

May you have a very blessed new year.