Being a Mary in a Martha World

“And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:41-42)

                It seems that Americans are busier than we’ve ever been.  Our days are filled with all sorts of activity – work, school, exercise, etc.  Lone gone are the days when parents sat and read the evening paper, while the kids road bikes outside until dusk.  Now the kids have practice & games to attend, and mom & dad act as taxi drivers.  Practices that used to be only one night a week happen nearly every night of the week, not to mention weekends that are spent traveling to games – for little league!

                One of the best things we could do is eliminate unnecessary activities from our schedule.  But no matter how hard we try, there will always be an abundance of things for us to deal with.  Even though life was simpler in the 1st century, there were still burdens to bear.  Today’s passage takes us back to an occasion where Jesus met two sisters – Martha and Mary.  You could say that Martha was a worker bee, making preparations for guests, while Mary was willing to leave the work and sit at Jesus’ feet.

                Martha wasn’t happy about being left by her sister to make the preparations alone, and she asked Jesus to make her return to the work.  Jesus refused to make Mary return to the kitchen by saying that she “has chosen that good part.”  We need to learn from that.  In a world filled with all sorts of Martha activity, we need to learn to take time to sit at the feet of Jesus.  As the old preacher used to say, “We need to come apart before we come apart.”  Guard your time at Jesus’ feet.