"(39)And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. (40) But Martha was distracted with much serving - "
Luke 10:38-42. NKJV
Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, were opposites. Martha was diligent to the extreme in her house chores; Mary wasn't lazy, she just wanted as much of Jesus as she could get.
Jesus was visiting and true to form, Martha wanted everything in place for when He arrived. When He did, Mary sat at His feet (v39) feeding on all He said. This was a posture of Jewish scholars while listening to the Rabbi's. This, Paul mentioned in Acts 22:3, when he wrote that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel.
Martha didn't do anything wrong, she was just distracted from Jesus by her work. She also wanted Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Martha's biggest problem was not Mary, it was herself. She was becoming irritable because she felt she had so much to do and Mary wasn't helping her. The thing is, Mary had learnt what to do, 'sit at Jesus' feet.' Hardworking Martha, still had to learn this.
At times, we can be so absorbed in what work needs to be done that we miss out on what Jesus wants of us. Many times, He just wants us to sit at His feet and learn, be encouraged and built-up. However, guilt can kick in as we feel that we should be doing this or that and the work takes first place.
There is enough time in every day for every purpose. (Ecclesiastes 3) and it's a matter of getting the balance right. Obviously, if we have a job, there are time commitments and we need to be there to fulfil our task. If we're at home, then perhaps there may be a degree of freedom in our schedule. It's just a matter of fine-tuning.
The warning signs are - if you are becoming irritable and stressed out because you have so much to do, and the workload is taking you from time with Jesus, then you have it wrong. You need to re-group your thoughts. Ask Jesus to show you the best schedule for your day.
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
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