Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered
into a certain village: and a certain woman named
Martha received him into her house. And she had
a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet, and
heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about
with much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord,
do you not care that my sister has left me to serve
alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus
answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, you
are anxious and troubled about many things: But one
thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:38-42)
Martha and Mary were good friends of Jesus, and He often visited them and their brother Lazurus. Martha had a heart and mind to serve: she was a real do-er.
If she were here today she'd be the best social director in the church! She was the kind of woman who noticed what needed to be done, and didn't need to be asked to get busy- she volunteered.
She had the skills to organize and do whatever needed to be done. Martha would be a real asset to any organization.
Martha watched with growing dissatisfaction as her sister Mary just sat and listened to Jesus, not helping with all the work that needed to be done. We can relate to that, can't we?
It's not fair that we're doing all the work while someone else is not helping. That's how Martha felt, and she finally asked Jesus to intervene and ask Mary to get up and help.
Two pairs of hands would make the work go faster, and then they could BOTH sit and listen to Jesus.
But things aren't the same in God's plan as they are in ours. The priorities are different. The things we think are important, like our works, are not what Jesus is most concerned about.
Jesus told Martha that He understood her cares about getting things done, but her first focus should be on Him, not on the chores. Martha was quite comfortable in her role as
a Do-er; she valued her works over the time she could have been spending with Jesus. Her routine of helping and doing became an obstacle in her spiritual walk with the Lord.
Having a servant heart is a very necessary thing in our relationship with the Lord. Jesus himself told the disciples: "...I am among you as he that serves" (Luke 22:26) He instructed
His disciples to serve others, just as he served them. If Jesus had a servant's heart, that is what we should develop as well.
But we should be careful not to confuse service with relationship. Our service should grow out of our relationship with Jesus, otherwise it becomes a stumbling block for us as it was for Martha.
The enemy of our souls loves it when we are too busy to just sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. If Satan can't turn us away from Jesus, he will make us be too busy.
Our relationship will suffer for it. And all our busyness won't help our good works be more effective.
Instead, we need to learn to do as Mary did: leave the mundane tasks of this world to sit with Jesus. Jesus told Martha, the busy worker, that she needed to focus on the one thing that was truly needed.
Mary had chosen the good part, letting go of the works to spend time with Jesus. We have a choice also. Let's learn from Mary, and make the better choice. Let's just sit with Jesus today.
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