Luke 10: 38-42
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman, named Martha, received him into her house.
And she had a sister, called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word,
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me.
And Jesus answered , and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things.
But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Many times in years past, I would read these verses and think “Well, someone had to prepare and serve the food.” As I grew in age and spiritual maturity, the Lord has tenderly and patiently shed light on these verses. I do know that when Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, chooses to call out your name twice in making a point, you should listen.
The crux of the matter, of course, is that in the face of having many, many things to accomplish, we need to follow Mary’s example and first spend time at Jesus’ feet hearing the Word. There is a potent message in these verses. God knew that the cares of this life, everyday responsibilities, most seemingly mundane, would consume much of our time and energy. In this beautiful passage, He was addressing this.
I tend to be a Martha. The root of thinking everything has to be in its place and in order is ultimately pride. My children used to dread when we had guests coming over for dinner. They knew what was coming: do this, do that, hurry up, stand at attention while I instruct you as to what to do! It perhaps was not quite that bad, (although they would argue that point), but they probably perceived it that way.
Certainly, Jesus knew those things would need to be done; however, I think He was telling Martha that the priority needed to be hearing the Word, in this case the one, true, Word who had become flesh and was dwelling among them. That same One is still speaking today through His Word. He is still calling our name and beckoning us to put aside the mundane, ordinary tasks of life long enough to listen to Him.
A dear Pastor and friend once said that ultimately, people do what they want to do. I have thought of that statement many times through the years and have come to recognize that it is exactly right. Christmas is all about the birth of Christ. Sometimes in observing the increased activity this time of year, the running to and fro with so many pressing things to do, it seems as if Jesus is standing on the outside, looking in, with a deep longing in His heart for fellowship.
Deuteronomy 6: 6-13
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart;
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.”
This passage of scripture explains how God sees the Word and how it is to be regarded in our lives. One can not read these verses and not understand how essential the Word is to be to us. It is a theme throughout the Bible, repeated over and over so we will understand its importance.
Notice that He says “when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the Lord. He created us. He knows that the flesh is weak and that when “we have eaten and are full” our tendency will be to forget Him. We have been brought out of our Egypt (bondage) when He saved us. We are blessed with abundance, our cup runneth over with plenty and in the midst of it all He is saying beware lest thou forget the Lord.
In that most perfect of prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, He instructs the disciples, in part, to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. We need the Bread of Life every, single, solitary day. His mercies are new every morning because we need them to be. We need the washing of the water of the Word every day. We need Him every hour of every day.
My heart is full to overflowing with a desire to walk uprightly before the Lord. To feast on the meat of the Word and thereby be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We are deceived if we think we don’t need to sit at His feet, basking in the glow of His glory, drinking at the Fountain of Living Water.
As we do, He will come. His presence will surround us, His truth will permeate our entire being and we will walk from that place refreshed and renewed.
afirebynight 