Luke 10:40-42
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And [b]Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Do you have the Martha complex? What do I mean? Well, are you so busy and distracted doing this and that for God yet you have no relationship with him because you never spend time with Him?
When Jesus visited Mary and Martha, the bible says that Martha was distracted with much serving. Now serving is not a bad thing because after all Jesus had come to visit them and she needed to see that he was attended to. There was much more to this that was going on than just serving because Jesus tells Martha that she is worried and troubled about many things.
Martha had her priorities mixed up. Mary her sister recognized the opportunity and put everything else aside so that she could sit at the feet of Jesus listening to what Jesus had to say and that ministered to her and strengthened her spiritually. Martha felt irritated, frustrated and resentful towards her sister and she even voiced her frustration to Jesus but Jesus tells her that Mary her sister had made the right choice going for the good thing that would not be taken away from her.
When we allow ourselves to get troubled and worried because of other things that may even seem good at the time, we fail to recognize that these things take us away from Jesus. The bible tells us that Jesus called the disciples that they may be with him and that he may send them out to preach. (Mark 3:14) Being with him came first before he could send them out and the same applies to us today as well.
Are you too busy working for the Lord that you have no time to spend with Him? You are busy with church meetings and activities always running from one place to another “serving” the Lord but you never slow down enough to take a pose and spend some time with him meaning that in essence, you do not know him and you have no idea what he is saying because you never interact with him.
Mary teaches us to give priority to things that are eternal, The things as Jesus says that can never be taken away from us. it is when we spend more time with Jesus that we are changed from the inside out.
Reflective Thoughts
Do you identify more with Mary or Martha? Why?
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What are some of the seemingly good things that tend to take you away from Jesus?
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What do you need to do to become more like Mary?
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