Bible verse: Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But 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!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
After reading the above verses we get the impression that Martha and Mary despite being sisters were contrasting personalities. While Martha seems to have been a perfectionist, Mary seems to have been a spontaneous person. Martha wanted to make things orderly and comfortable for the Lord and other guests by serving them in the best possible way. She wanted to be the best possible hostess to the Lord and to receive his blessings for herself and their family home.
Martha was focusing on the hospitality, which was secondary in the Lord’s eyes and the Lord wanted both Martha and Mary to listen to the life-giving message that he was preaching that night. In her enthusiasm to serve, Martha had forgotten to value the unique opportunity that God was giving her in the form of eternal life. By trying to do many things perfectly she had shifted her focus from what should have been her number one priority.
Mary recognised the importance of the Lord’s visit and knew that if she left to help her sister and got busy with those chores. She would miss out all the valuable teaching of the Lord and so she decided to sit near the Lord and listen carefully to every word that he spoke. Dear believer, as children of God do we listen to our Heavenly Father’s voice in rapt attention when we have that opportunity or do we engage in less important tasks by trying to do them perfectly to win the appreciation of fellow human beings.
Martha may have gained the approval of all her guests but Mary had God’s approval. Martha seemed keen on defending her own reputation and the family honor but Mary was rejoicing in the Lord’s presence and His blessings.
Very often in our lives we have a choice of being either like Martha or like Mary. While it is important to have an orderly life and there is no harm in having a set routine, an excessive obsession with our own routine may leave us with very little time for the things that God wants us to do. Thus we are in danger of losing out on a blessing because we run short of time to receive the most important message in our lives.
We may have a good reputation as extremely disciplined and organised people in the eyes of the world but more important than that is God’s eagerness to see us both hearers and doers of His word!
May the name of Lord and Saviour be glorified forever. Amen!
