Mary and Martha

Luke 10: 38 – 42 (NIV): As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he 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. 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!" "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."

This story takes place in Bethany, near Jerusalem. We find in other scriptures that Mary and Martha were Lazarus' sisters and whenever Jesus was visiting Jerusalem, he stayed with them. This story points out two choices we can make: The choice to work for Jesus, and the choice to spend time with him. It may shock you to read this, but I believe Jesus would rather you pray than witness. Both are good, but only one can be the best thing.

Often life presents choices not between good and evil, but between what is good and what is best. It is best, Jesus said, to spend time with him. Don't worry, as we strengthen our love for God, good deeds will follow, but they will not be a way to earn a friendship with God, they will be the result of it.

You may read this and think it would not have been practical to just sit at Jesus' feet and not get supper ready. If Martha hadn't gone to the kitchen, Jesus would have gone hungry. Could she have allowed that? Should she have? Was it fair for Mary to let Martha do all the work? Jesus seems to be saying that Martha was fussing to make everything just right and, because of it, missing out on the time she could have spent with him. “Only one thing is needed” may mean something like, “I don't need anything too fancy, just find some bread and get in here so you can visit with me.”

Jesus understood the cultural need for a hostess to provide for her guests. He understood that Martha, as a woman, felt compelled to feed him. This story isn't trying to take on any social issues. The culture was what it was. Jesus simply used this situation to teach us that working for him is not the best thing, our relationship with him is. Our faith is not about rules, regulations and work, it is about having a relationship with God. That is the number-one thing he wants from us. Ours is the only religion that teaches that the Creator desires fellowship with his creation and paid dearly to have it. That is amazing to think about.

I've heard that the devil's favorite tool is to keep us so busy we neglect our relationship with God. I believe that and he's doing a pretty good job. Sometimes we are so busy, even doing good things, that we neglect just sitting quietly and listening to God – in his word and in prayer. What is the very best thing we can do? Make the right choice and watch everything else fall into place.