I’m an idea person. Give me a topic, and ideas start to flow. Good ideas, bad ideas, great ideas, and horrible ideas. How is a person to know which is which? Well yes, my wife often helps me with some of the obvious bad ideas, but there is one more person who is ready and willing to help us as we plan for the new year. Yes, it is the Lord Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit. These two, if we will take the time, will step in and give us ideas and leadings that will not only save us time in the long run but will also accomplish more for the kingdom of God than we can imagine. That is, if we are willing to put Him first!

In Luke 10:38-42 is a story about Martha and Mary. To tell you the truth, I am more like Martha, and I don’t really like the story all that much. Martha is working, working, and working and starts to complain because Mary is just sitting there spending time with Jesus. Jesus didn’t say what Martha was doing was wrong; He just said that what Mary was doing was better.

Perhaps if that story were written today, someone might say, “Lord, look at me! I am doing all of these things to make my class grow, and Mary over there isn’t doing much at all. Yet her class is growing more than mine!” Jesus might say that Mary was doing the greater thing and was spending more time with Jesus.

One time in my church, I was trying to find volunteers. I was calling people, putting notes in the bulletin, hanging posters on the walls, and standing in the foyer. Then once during the week, when I stopped what I was doing to pray—let me repeat that: I stopped and prayed—the Lord told me to walk the campus and pray over every classroom that needed a teacher. That was almost 20 classrooms! The following week, I had a dozen new teachers and helpers. As I recall, they all just started coming to me.

Is it always that easy to find leaders? No. But is it always that easy to stop and ask the Holy Spirit, the Father in Heaven, and Jesus to step in and lead us? Yes. Jesus said Mary is doing the right thing. Spending time with Jesus. Doing a few less things. Planning a few less activities. Putting Jesus first. Walking in His way. Following His Leading. And letting Him build His Church.