Serving Jesus
“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand” ( Luke 10:40).
We often conclude from this story that Martha was the grump-
– while Mary was the one with the pure, simple motives.
But is sitting around always a better choice than working?
What would happen if Christians spent all their time reading the Bible and going to church, but never cleaned their rooms or mowed the grass?
So maybe we’re being too hard on Martha… and not completely understanding what Jesus was saying.
Martha was showing her love for Jesus by being a good hostess to him.
No doubt-
– she wanted to spend time with her Lord as much as Mary did,
– but someone had to do the work.
Perhaps she thought if her sister would help out-
– they’d both have time to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from his teaching.
Maybe that’s what aggravated Martha the most-
– hearing the muffled sounds of Jesus’ voice in the other room,
– longing to hear what he was saying,
– but mad that she was stuck in the kitchen by herself.
So the more she worked-
– the more agitated she grew.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it any more-
– and she took her frustrations out on Mary.
Jesus knew that both Mary and Martha loved him.
But what Martha didn’t know was that-
– she didn’t have to prove it to him by constantly working.
Sure, there are times to be busy-
– but there are also times to stop doing and start listening.
How can your efforts at serving Jesus-
– keep you from spending time with him?