One Thing is Necessary
Posted by Curtis on February 13, 2012In Luke 10:38-42 we come upon Jesus entering a village and being welcomed into a home. This was a common occurrence. People were fascinated by Jesus and wanted to hear Him speak more of the kingdom of God. On this occasion, our Lord was entertained by two sisters. One can only imagine the great honor it must have been for Martha and Mary to have the Son of God resting in their home after what had been a very busy though exciting day.
After telling us that Jesus entered the home, Luke immediately draws his readers’ attention to the posture of these two sisters. We are told that Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. Martha, on the other hand, was distracted with much serving. The reader then learns that this difference in posture created tension between these two sisters.
I believe that all these years later these two postures often create tension within our own hearts and minds as we relate to Jesus. We know that we are called to sit at the feet of our Master and saturate our lives with His teaching and presence. However, we also know that our lives must be humbly patterned after this One who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:20-28). So then, where exactly did Martha go wrong?
Was Martha’s mistake made in her desire to serve? No, for the attitude of a servant should be found in each disciple that bears the name of Christ.
Was Martha at fault for taking care of the necessary preparations for this feast? Surely not! There were many good things that needed to be done. In fact, we too should eagerly desire to do all that we can for Christ. Our hands, feet, mouth, mind, heart, and passion must all be dedicated to the work of God’s kingdom. All that we are must engage the goal of seeing God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
As I understand it, Martha’s error was that she allowed herself to become distracted by all the preparations. She forgot Jesus Himself and became solely focused on what she was doing for Him. Even more, she became focused on what others were not doing for Him. Martha allowed her service for Christ to take precedence over her communion with Christ. She had lost sight of proper priorities. She had failed to understand that our best service always flows out of time spent knowing and enjoying God.
The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said it this way in his devotional book Morning and Evening: “Beloved Christian, don’t neglect the external things needed for life, for they have their purpose, but be determined to continually enjoy vital, personal fellowship with Jesus. Make sure you never neglect sitting at the Saviour’s feet, even if it appears to give others the misleading idea it is service to Him you are neglecting. The first priority for our soul’s health, the first priority for His glory, and the first priority for our own usefulness is to keep ourselves in continual communion with the Lord Jesus and to see that the vital spirituality of our faith is maintained over and above everything else in the world.”
This is exactly the lesson that Jesus wants each of us to learn. All these years later we need to hear our Lord speak to us the same words He shared with Martha; “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” Today, may we hear Jesus invite us to re-prioritize our own lives and make time for the one thing that is most necessary. May we hear our Master lovingly call us to join Mary at His feet.
Pastor Curtis