I have been doing some thinking and studying on the story of Mary and Martha in the gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 38-42.
"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, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, 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."
As I understand it, this was Martha's home, in the town of Bethany. Martha may have been a widow, and Mary was her younger sister. (Lazarus, who Jesus had previously raised from the dead, was their brother.) This was a family that loved Jesus, and He also loved them very much.
This is not a matter of Martha not being a true believer in Jesus, because she was. I believe this story is included in scripture to show us that we, as believers, can have our priorities out of order sometimes. Jesus was not condemning Martha for preparing the dinner. He knew that was important and necessary, what He was explaining to Martha, in a kind and loving way, was that she was putting too much thought, worry and care into preparing the dinner, when her priority should have been being close to Jesus and listening to His words.
When Jesus said "One thing is needful", I don't believe He meant that we should all do nothing but sit in a quiet, private room and read the bible and ignore all the other responsibilities of life. What He is trying to impress upon us here, is the importance of putting Him first, before anything else we do.
Matthew 6:31-33 says "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Something I appreciate about this portion is, God is very practical, He knows and understands every little need that we have. He just wants us to put Him first, because otherwise the cares and worries of other things will become idols in our lives, and will push God out of our lives and allow Satan to get a foothold in breaking up our communion with God. This is what was beginning to happen with Martha, she was so worried about her dinner preparations, she was missing out on what Jesus had to say. This is just how Satan disrupts the life of a believer. When this happens, our joy and peace in the Lord is hindered, and our testimony of the Lord to others is marred.
One reason we need to make communion with the Lord our number one priority is, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. When we don't put the Lord first, and acknowledge Him in all our ways, and allow Him to guide and direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6), our best efforts and intentions will be in vain. Even when we have very good, sincere, honest intentions, if we are not trusting in His strength and guidance, then we are just doing what seems right in our own eyes, and the results will not be blessed.
The last few words of the portion we are studying about say: "Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." I think that one of the things we can take from this is, time spent studying God's word, praying, meditating on His great love He has for us, and the wonderful future Christians have to look forward to because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, are all eternal, never-changing truths. These things will never be taken away from us. On the other hand, anything we put before the Lord, whether it is worrying about preparing a meal, as Martha was, or anything else, is only temporary, and is not worth becoming an idol in our lives and only causes us to miss out on the joy and peace that is available to all of us if we make the decided effort to keep the Lord as the first priority in our lives!
I pray the Lord will use these thoughts to help us all "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18.
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