On Twitter, I started last week, giving what I am calling a LeaderTip of the Day. The goal of LeaderTip is to just give One thought about Leadership that may prompt many thoughts towards Thinking…Being and Doing life more effectively. Today’s LeaderTip was inspired by a message I preached this past week on Love. To subscribe to our podcast and hear/see any of our messages, click here .

LeaderTip of the Day #4: Stop right now and ask yourself, “What is the One Thing I need to get accomplished today?” Do that One Thing!

In Luke 10:38-42, we find the familiar story about Mary and Martha. A couple of interesting facts about the story are worth mentioning:

· Martha was the one who invited Jesus to come to her house.
· Mary sat at Jesus feet and heard every word He spoke
· Martha was serving and became upset because Mary was sitting while she was serving and listening to Jesus while she was laboring for Jesus.
· Mary was unaffected by Martha’s concern
· Martha approaches Jesus whom she invited to come to her house, not to hear what He was saying, but to tell Him what He needed to say…to Mary. She actually tells Jesus to tell Mary to help her.
· Jesus has to deal with Martha based on what Martha is making important and tells her there is only “One Thing” that is needful…”
· Jesus not only defends Mary, but differentiates Mary from Martha in that Mary has chosen the “One Thing that is needful…and good.”

There are many morals to this story, but none more important than to:

Always focus on what is most important. There is always One Thing that is more important than ALL the other things. Determine what the One Thing is in your every day that effects everything else and ALWAYS do that One Thing.

What Jesus was emphasizing then and what He says to us now is, there is nothing more important in your every day than to sit at His feet and hear what He is saying. Was Martha doing a bad thing by serving? Absolutely not! It was a good thing she was doing, but the good thing caused her to miss out on the “One Thing that was needful…”

The best thing you can do every day, is to identify the One Thing you need to do every day and do it. Martha invited Jesus into her house, but not into her heart! Don’t allow someone else to become the beneficiary of your good intentions. Invite the Right People…into the Right Place…at the Right Time and the Right Things will happen. What determines the Right Time in our lives? Take a lesson from Martha today…What we do IN the time we have, determines if it is the Right Time. When we do the “One Thing that is needful…” consistently, we will create the Right Times in our lives for the Right Things to happen.

One Thingin it!
Keith Craft