The One Thing That Changes Everything – July 25, 2025

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As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

The One Thing That Changes Everything

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jimmy didn’t like talking out loud—but he loved words. Jimmy had a hard time speaking because he had a big stutter. When he tried to talk, his words got stuck, and kids would laugh. So, Jimmy stopped talking almost completely. From the time he was five to fourteen years old, Jimmy hardly said anything.

But even though he didn’t talk much, he loved reading—especially poems. He wished he could read them out loud, but he stayed quiet. Then one day, Jimmy tasted something amazing for the first time: grapefruit! He loved it so much, he wrote a poem about it for his English class.

His teacher, Mr. Crouch, thought the poem was so good that Jimmy must have cheated. He told Jimmy he had to read it out loud to prove he wrote it, or he’d get an F. Jimmy was angry. So he stood up—and recited the whole poem without stuttering once!

That’s when Jimmy learned something incredible: his stutter disappeared when he said something from memory. From then on, he started memorizing poems, lines from plays, and entire scripts. He even became an actor and won awards. And then . . . he got a super famous job. He became the voice of Darth Vader, the famous villain from Star Wars. Jimmy’s real name? James Earl Jones. The one thing that changed his life forever was memorizing.

And guess what? There’s one thing that can change your life forever, too: God’s Word.

In Luke 10, two sisters—Mary and Martha—had Jesus over at their house. Mary sat down and listened to Jesus. Martha was busy cooking and cleaning. Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the one thing needed: his Word.

So let’s be like Mary. Listen to Jesus. Read his Word. Love it. Learn it. Remember it. Because God’s Word is the one thing that changes everything—for now and forever!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help me love your Word more than anything else. Teach me to treasure it every day. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What famous movie character did Jimmy (James Earl Jones) use his voice for?
• What is the one thing we need most in our lives?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• What was the one thing that helped Jimmy’s life change?
• How can God’s Word change your life?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Do you have a favorite Bible verse memorized? If not, what’s a verse you’d like to learn this week?
• Martha was busy and forgot about Jesus’ words. Have you ever done that too? How can you remind yourself to be more like Mary and spend time with God’s Word?

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