Mary or Martha

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

MARY OR MARTHA

Luke 10:38-42

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 and 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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." 

NIV

It is a wonderful thing that Martha opened her home to Jesus, but at the same time she was not prepared to have Jesus in her home because all she was concerned about was the works that were needed to serve him. Plus, to add to her worry and anxiety, her sister Mary was not helping her, but instead sitting and listen to Jesus. If we cannot see the truth of our lives in this narrative, we most likely cannot see anything, which we then would be living as a blind person who consistently lives in the dark. There is only one thing needed in our lives and that is to believe in the one God sent, Jesus. All else must take second fiddle. We have been told over and over again, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. But do we get distracted with all the work, the good deeds, serving in the church? The question is whether we are a Martha or a Mary. We know we say the reason we do so much work is because we love the Lord and are so grateful. However, has the work become the reason we do what we do, like Martha did. Her concern was all about the work that needed to be done to serve Jesus. Of course, there are a lot of things that we must do, as part of the body of Christ. Because we are told to love one another and, in fact, put others before ourselves, we work our fingers to the bone trying to fulfill that command of serving others. Those of us who either teach or preach spent untold hours in study and preparation to serve others, which those should rightly do, as they have been called or tasked by the Lord into that kind of service. Others do the same thing, serve because they have that calling, and each of us, although we have been called, is also empowered by the Lord. However, everything should be about being a Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and learning from Him. We must be careful not to be a Martha and look or be blinded by the work or the good deeds  that must be accomplished and become so involved or invested in the doing of things that we miss hearing from Jesus. It would be best if we were aware of whether we are Mary or  Martha.