In America, we are served the same illusion again and again, that we just have to get all sorts of things done, such as cleaning, cooking, working, bills, bringing our children up right, helping with the community, and so forth, to which each of these things most definitely have their merits, but life actually is in effect, much more straightforward than we might think. The first clue that perhaps we shouldn't be so intimately involved in the rat race, is to understand, that Jesus the Christ, time and time again, took time to contemplate by himself so as to recharge his batteries and to stay focused on the meaningful things such as in keeping His oneness with our Lord, to which we read in Luke5:16: "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed." After all, you would think that the Messiah would have all sorts of things that He just had to do, that would literally keep Him busy night and day, but intuitively He understood that the greatest power and wisdom attainable necessitated both quiet meditation as well as concentrated attention to our Creator, or else He would not be the Christ for His people.
So too, there is the story told of Martha and Mary, to which, when Jesus entered their house, Martha took it upon herself to do all the necessary work, that she just had to do, in order to properly receive and serve a guest as great as our Messiah, whereas Mary, on the other hand, merely sat at Jesus' feet. Yet, when Martha complained that it was unfair that she was not getting any serving help from Mary, and thereby Martha was unable to benefit or appreciate the words being spoken by Jesus, "And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her," (Luke 10:41-42).
To a certain degree, hearing this gentle rebuke, seems a bit unfair, after all, it would appear that Martha is doing all the things that a host should do for an important guest, whereas Mary is doing nothing, and logically you would think that Mary has an implicit obligation to do her part, because two heads working together can accomplished much, and having done so, thereby both will be able to equally receive the words of Jesus. However, that isn't what Jesus said, He makes it very clear that life is far simpler than being an accomplished busybody, or being anxious, and that in fact, life can be summed up into this understanding that rather than us having so many things to do, of which many of those things are not so much for the good of ourselves but more for selling the illusion of our vitality to others or to feed our self-righteous vanity, we should instead focus less on this world that does not last, and more on the eternal things that will never end.
While it is true that God does desire that we be good for something, so too God desires that we stay focused on the true prize, which is our re-uniting with His Kingdom, and while there are fundamental things that we need to attend to in our everyday activities, the correct priority should be to always keep in mind, that we must first serve Him for it is the choices that we make day by day that take us either closer or further from His eternal love and grace.