Balance

Luke 10:38-42 (NASB) nd Mary

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of what’s most important in our service to the Lord. Martha was distracted with being busy, while Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. When Martha addressed the situation with Jesus, He dismissed her busyness. What can we learn from this passage of Scripture? Well, I’m sure there is more than one lesson here, but let’s concentrate on the priority Jesus placed on what Mary was doing.

At no time did Jesus say that what Martha was doing wasn’t important, but he did say that only one thing was necessary. He told Martha that she was so worried and bothered about so many things. Her mind must have been going in several directions while she was attempting to serve her guest, but in trying to do so, she missed who her guest really was. Every word that proceeded out of His mouth was the Word of God, which was the one necessary thing.

How often do we pray for the presence of the Lord in our lives, our communities, and our churches, only to neglect Him for the busy work? We get so caught up in activity that we miss intimacy with Him. Yes, the work needs to be done, but does it all need to be done by you and right now? Let’s strive to balance our lives in such a way that we don’t neglect the one necessary thing.