“But Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me.’ And Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful—and Mary has c hosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her’.”
Luke 10:40-42
Forgetting this will always lead to frustration, fuming, feeling fed-up, etc.
We need never wonder what it is.
How goes it today, Pilgrim? Feeling pretty good? Ready to face a new day? Or, are you dreading what lies ahead. . .feeling weary and drained. . .tired of others making demands on you . . .feeling like a miserable excuse of a Christian?
If so, this Manna’s for you.
Martha was a Type A, compulsive, driven workaholic. She believed in “a place for everything and everything in its place.” If she’d been a golfer, she’d never let you improve your lie—and she’d certainly never let you take a mulligan.
Yep, she was a “play-by-the-rules” kind of gal.
Crossing all the “t’s” and dotting all the “i’s.”
And, woe to those who thought otherwise or dared to tell her so.
This doesn’t mean she was a “bad” lady—for we’d all do well to learn from her sense of conscientiousness and commitment-to-duty.
But, her problem was she “was cumbered (Grk. ‘perispao’—‘to drag about, burdened down, distracted with care, etc.’) about with much serving” and “careful” (Grk. “merimnao” —‘to be anxious, full of worry, inwardly divided, etc.)” and troubled about many things.”
Simply put, she was “uptight”. . .bent-out-of-shape. . . “about to lose it.”
Why is that? Because she was in there doing all the work while Mary was sitting on her posterior doing nothing. Nothing, i.e., other than soaking up everything Jesus had to say.
It’s probably good we don’t know what she was muttering under her breath; but, we can rest assured it wasn’t something you’d want to hear in Sunday School this Sunday. But, then, again, Martha’s so outspoken (“Lord, don’t you care—i.e., doesn’t it bother you—that Mary has left me to serve alone?”) that it’s very likely she’d even air her hurts and dirty laundry there.
Regardless, it’s clear that Jesus didn’t react against her harsh words against Him.
Instead, as He still does today, He used it as a teachable moment: “Martha, Martha.” This was like a parent gently taking a small child’s chin in his hand and slowly turning the distracted, not-listening tyke’s face toward him.
“You’re worried and troubled about many things. But, Mary’s calm, cool and collected, soaking up those things that are of much more value than clean china or starched tablecloths. Come, sit down—take a load off. Fellowshipping with Me is much more important than a five-course meal and all the trimmings. Come on. Sit down—and enjoy My company.”
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated August 13, 2009
