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Scripture Reading

Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Devotional

In this passage we find Jesus and his disciples in Martha and Mary’s house. These two women know Jesus well because they are the sisters of Lazarus. In a hurry to get food ready for her esteemed guests, Martha finds herself overwhelmed and wondering why she’s been left to do everything herself. In fact, she’s so disgruntled she complains to Jesus immediately and asks him to tell Mary to come do her share of the work. I’m sure in this moment, Martha felt justified in her request and expected Jesus to scold her sister, but instead he expresses sympathy to Martha because she has concerned herself with the little things while missing the bread of life right in front of her.

If there’s one thing I know about life, it’s that it is full of distractions and stressors. There’s always something that needs to be done – laundry, paying bills, tending to family, going to work, cooking, cleaning, and the list goes on. When you look back on all the things you’ve worried and stressed about throughout the years and even on a daily basis, do you ever feel like it was time well-spent? Did your worries ever improve your circumstance or did it just leave you feeling exhausted at the end of the day? I’m willing to bet the answer is the latter. And here Jesus is pointing out the same thing. Martha is so concerned about the temporary things in life, that she misses the fact that she could be sitting at the feet of Jesus learning about things that last forever. See, Martha thought Mary was just being selfish or inconsiderate, when in fact she had the right priorities. Sometimes what is best for us is to take a moment, be still, and spend time with God.

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take care of yourself and your family, but be sure that God is always your number one priority. You’ll find that God tries to and wants to communicate with you, but it’s like he’s calling and keeps getting a busy signal or he’s forwarded straight to voicemail. Then he tries to text us, but we don't respond. It’s hard to get through to us when we’re focused on everything, but him. So, today I want you to know that God is calling and wants to spend time with you. Will you make him a priority in your daily schedule or will you leave his text message on "read"? Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for being that friend that never stops reaching out and no matter how much time has passed. Thank you for always lending me your ear and being anxious to spend time with me to teach me about the things that are truly important in life. I pray that each day I will be less distracted by the things of this world and more focused on you. Help me to discard useless parts of my schedule and replace them with things you’ve called me to do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.