"But Martha was distracted with much serving." v 40 Luke 10:38-42 NKJV
The sisters, Mary and Martha were very close friends of Jesus and here, Jesus has been invited by Martha to come for dinner. As Jesus settled into their house, Martha got on with the chores of the kitchen; Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to Him speaking.
Mary was committed to Jesus so much that whenever she was in His presence, she wanted to know more. She therefore sat at His feet. This displayed that she was a learner in submission to the teacher. After a time, Martha became frustrated that Mary was doing this while she did all of the work. She therefore went and spoke quite harshly to Jesus about His not caring that she was doing all the work while He spoke with Mary. Note, she was so frustrated that she did not speak to Mary about this but to Jesus.
Martha had become so focused on what she was doing for Jesus. It mattered to her very much that things were all in place. When our service to Jesus affects our relationship with other believers and with God Himself, there is a problem and it is time to reassess.
Take for instance If Jesus was in front of you. Would your first thought be to make sure that everything was perfect in the house and you were dressed properly, or would you stop and spend time with Him straightaway. Mary had made her choice and, it was the right one. Martha could have done the same and then later, said to Mary, 'Come on, let's both get the dinner made.'
We can be so concerned in ministering for Jesus, going to this meeting and then another, reading every Christian book that we can find, that we miss the main item - Jesus Himself. He is the reason we are here. We chose to follow Him and so, we must allow Him the first place in our lives. Other things are secondary, they are not as important as meeting with Jesus. Mary got it right; Martha was distracted. Her heart was in the right place, Jesus knew that. But she had become so involved in doing things for Jesus that she had neglected to receive from Him.
Now this is food for thought. How many times do we do the same?
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard
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