“Jesus said, ‘Martha, Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needed and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'” Luke 10:41-42 KJV
I’m sure we’ve all heard sermons and read articles that cause us to feel we need to be less like Martha and more like Mary. We feel the condemnation and vow to be a better Mary. Most Believers that I know have a genuine desire to be like Mary but tend to feel they are a tad or, maybe a lot more, on the Martha side.
The truth of the matter is condemnation never leads to Life, that place where we have true freedom. For true freedom we need conviction, which always draws us to Jesus’ love. Notice what Jesus said to Martha—- you are careful and troubled about many things. As I read this recently it occurred to me that Martha was trying to have everything perfect (she was careful) and was upset (troubled) that things weren’t going as she was hoping. Recently when I was praying about being a Martha I heard, “Not everything you feel you need to do is necessary.” But that isn’t all I heard that morning. I also heard, “You are more of a Mary than you realize.” There was the conviction of unnecessary things with His love speaking to me saying He noticed my efforts to be more like Mary.
My take away from that morning was to not feel condemned when I get busy but to ask Jesus to alert me when I am doing unnecessary things. I believe this is what Martha was doing because she desired to honor her guest. My other take away was to ask Jesus what I do that is like Mary in His eyes—- and focus on doing those things. This seems so simple yet it brought such encouragement and hope for being a Mary in a Martha world.
Coffee With the King 