Luke 10:40
Sometimes we almost forget that Mary also served, but she also saw the urgent need to make the crucial time to sit at Jesus’ feet. She recognized the desperate need for balance. As Jesus addressed the situation, He never implied that what Martha was doing was unnecessary or evil, but he was stressing the pressing need for all things in our lives to be balanced by the spiritual. The devotional aspect of our lives must never be neglected or sidetracked by the secular and the temporal. It is imperative that we find a balance!
Martha was simply doing too much. Could this be one of our besetting problems today – that we are constantly trying to do too much and sometimes in areas that really do not matter? Did you notice that Martha was so busy being the perfect housewife and hostess, while trying to entertain her guest that she had very little time for her guest? She was literally stressed out with all she was trying to do. It never dawned on her that to be a hostess to Jesus, we must also take time out to be His guest.
I trust today that we would receive the illumination that Jesus yearns for us to also sit at His feet quietly and learn. He too, delights in serving us and having us sit at His feet. Sometimes I must admit we are so busy doing church and running church that Jesus is often left out of the equation altogether! We are so busy that finding time for prayer and personal devotion often becomes a problem. May we be convicted to know that when we are too busy to pray, we are too busy and doing too much!
Notice how Jesus lovingly and tenderly seeks to reprove Martha. In the most compassionate way, He tries to get her to slow down and change her whole approach about her transactions of the everyday. He calmly addresses her by saying, “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).
Her life was characterized by too much anxious activity and doing, which if we are not careful always turns into murmuring, fault finding, and discourtesy even to those we do not mean to hurt. In the passage she even mistakenly accuses the Lord of not caring (v.40). She is almost tripping over herself with needless worry and care. She is fussing, fretting and complaining, weighted down with unnecessary care – stressed out – Doing too much!
Mary, on the other hand, knew when it was time to sit down, drop it all and receive instructions at Jesus’ feet. She makes the conscientious effort to choose the good part which will sustain her when the storms of life inevitably come (John 11). The true disciple must take time to sit at His feet and learn. We choose to be like Mary. May you slow down a little as you take time out to refresh yourself and your spirit at His feet! May God help us to strike the right balance!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop-Northeast Region
