Good Morning Friends,
“Jesus and his disciples came to a village
where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called
Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. Martha was
distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and
asked, ‘Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by
myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are
worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has
chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke
10:38-41)
Are you more like Martha or like Mary?
Martha was the doer. She was concerned about taking
care of everyone. She wanted the meal she fed Jesus to be just right. She was
the kind of person who would have wanted the house spotless when guests arrived
and everything picked up at the end of each day. She was always busy. She was
busy with good things –but still, she was busy.
Mary found time for contemplation. She would
have been fine with sandwiches her guests would have made for themselves from
the fixing she quickly set on the table. She would have done some straightening
before Jesus arrived, but would not have been concerned if the house wasn’t
spotless. She wouldn’t have noticed about any clutter that accumulated while
her guests were there and wouldn’t have done anything about it even if she had
noticed. She was content to sit and listen to Jesus.
Being a Martha isn’t wrong – as long as the
busyness doesn’t keeps you from focusing on the Lord and listening to Him.
Being a Mary isn’t wrong, either – as long as
your contemplation doesn’t cause you to ignore things that really do need to be
done – that God wants you to do.
There is a time to be a doer and a time to be
listener. The hard part is in knowing which takes priority at any given time.
That’s what Martha missed. When Jesus was in
her home it was time to simplify the doing and focus on the listening. She
missed that and tried to get Jesus to make Mary miss it, too.
When Jesus wants you to be listening, are you?
Or are you too busy doing?
His, by Grace, Steve
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