The Apostle Paul’s great fear for his fellow-Christians  was that they would be deceived by Satan from simple lives of devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). This explains why he taught us to focus on invisible, spiritual and eternal things rather than on visible, worldly and temporal things (2 Corinthians 4:18). In these biblically predicted perilous times of the last days, it is more important than ever for the Christian to avoid being distracted from things of eternal consequence by things without lasting spiritual significance.

When it comes to spiritual things, nothing is of more eternal consequence or comparable in importance to one’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus taught us that eternal life is only found in knowing “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] has sent” (John 17:3). As the Apostle John puts it in 1 John 5:12, “He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has no life.” The Apostle Paul even went as far as to say that all who live their lives to please themselves rather than Christ are “dead” while they “live” (1 Timothy 5:6).

Regardless of what you may think or believe, without a personal and life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, which results in a lifelong relationship to be daily cultivated with Christ, you have no life in the here-and-now. Furthermore, you have no hope of eternal life hereafter. How important then is it for you to come to know Christ and to spend the rest of your life daily cultivating an intimate relationship with Him? Nothing in all of life is more important, since life itself emanates from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul teaches in Colossians 3:4, Christ “is our life.”

It is here that the uniqueness of Christianity is clearly seen. Whereas other faiths are mere religions whose founders are dead or dying, Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. It is a relationship with its Founder, Jesus Christ, who is not dead, but risen from the dead and living in the world today. Moreover, as the Conqueror of death, Christ is able to give eternal life to all who come to Him. Consequently, our relationship with the resurrected Christ, which is initiated at our conversion, will continue forever, since we will live forever in the presence of the ever-living Christ. 

Perhaps, the most astounding words Jesus ever spoke in the Scripture are found in Luke 10:42. Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, is busy as a bee serving Jesus. Her sister Mary, however, is just sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to His words. When Martha complains that Mary is not helping her with all that needs to be done, Jesus says to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about too many things” (v.41). Then, Christ commends Mary rather than chastens her for choosing to sit at His feet and commune with Him. According to Jesus, Mary had chosen “the one thing needed.” Did you get that? The only thing we need in life is to live our lives in communion with Christ!

All we need to do in this life is what Mary did, namely, live our lives in communion with Christ. Everything else in life flows from this, including our service of Christ. Contrary to popular opinion, our relationship with Christ does not result from our service of Christ, but our service of Christ results from our relationship with Christ.

It is only those who stay at Jesus’ feet who will know what service Jesus needs rendered. For instance, in John 12:1-9, we are told how Mary anointed Jesus for His burial. Although Martha was still busy as a bee in the service of Christ (v.2), it was only her sister Mary who knew what Jesus really needed. How did Mary know? She knew because she had been at His feet. Only those who live at the Master’s feet will know how to perform the ministry that most magnifies the Master!

All the advice you will ever need to live the rest of your Christian life is found in the last recorded words   in Scripture of another Mary. In John 2:5, Mary, the mother of Jesus, says to the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, “Whatever He says, do it.” If you will spend the rest of your Christian life at the Savior’s feet and only get up to do what He tells you to do, you will do all that you need to do. 

Before we move on to a concluding thought, let me point out that Jesus also said that what Mary had chosen would never be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). Think about it; the one thing in this life that can never be taken away from you is your relationship with Jesus Christ. Whereas you can lose everything else, you can never lose this. It will last forever! So just how important is it for you to focus in this fleeting life on the one for sure and forever thing you possess?

Unbeknownst to the vast majority of people in the world today, Christ is what life is all about. In Ephesians 1:10-23, the Apostle Paul teaches us that God the Father is summing up everything in this life in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is doing so, Paul explains, so that in the end He can place Christ over it all. It all adds up to Christ, who is what life is all about.

In biblical times, unlike today, when figures were added up, their sum was not placed on the bottom, but on the top. This is the picture of life being drawn by the divinely inspired pen of the Apostle Paul in the first chapter of Ephesians. He is showing us how everything in this universe is adding up to Christ and how Christ in the end will be placed over it all. Therefore, my friend, if you don’t have Christ, you have nothing, since Christ is everything!