One necessary thing
“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42 [KJV]
Dry Creek
“98 …99 …100!”
Today’s post marks the 100th blog on the Word in Season Writer website! That’s three years and ten months, over 120,000 words, more than 600 hours, much prayer, and the enabling of one Almighty God! Thank you to my readers, church, pastor, family and every one of you who have prayed, encouraged, supported, and shared along the way. I am deeply grateful for your co-labouring in this ministry.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve learnt a lot about ministry, including that I still have much to learn on the subject! All Christians are called—and enabled—to serve God. But sadly, it is possible to do many things ‘for’ God but little with God. We can be so busy with duties and ministries that we neglect our greatest responsibility: our relationship with Christ. This danger is vividly illustrated in the Bible by Jesus’ interaction with two sisters, Martha and Mary.
Luke 10:38-42 records that Jesus stayed in Bethany in the house of a woman called Martha. Martha’s sister Mary “sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Let’s look at Mary’s reverence, Martha’s reaction and the Lord’s response.
Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” Mary didn’t just happen to be there; she actively prioritised spending time with the Lord over other demands—much to Martha’s frustration! Additionally, rather than hiding behind others so Jesus wouldn’t see her distracted, or staying at the back of the room so she could slip out if her conscience was uncomfortably stirred, she came as close as possible to Jesus. Like a child sitting on the floor to listen to a parent or teacher reading aloud, she sat humbly and reverently at Jesus’ feet—the same feet that she would later anoint with oil in preparation for Jesus’ burial (John 12:1-8). And she listened to what He said. She was undoubtedly one of Jesus’ sheep, of whom He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
Do we spend time sitting at Jesus’ feet today? When God’s Word is preached, do we consciously put aside other distractions and listen with the intention of obeying His commands? During the week, do we have the same attitude towards our reading of God’s Word? Our relationship with Christ needs to be our highest earthly priority. This requires frequent, in-depth communication, where God talks to us through His Word, and we talk to Him through prayer.
Too often, we remain distant from Christ. Yet Ephesians 2:13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” and Hebrews 10:22 says “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Spending time in Christ’s presence is a wonderful privilege and empowers our life for Christian service. Yes, we can’t, and don’t, spend every moment of our days exclusively focused on being in Christ’s presence, but most of us are more like Martha than Mary in this area. We stay busy serving but run out of spiritual power because we are relying on our own resources rather than God’s inexhaustible grace.
But why did Martha react so strongly to Mary’s reverence? I suggest Martha’s reaction came primarily from physical and spiritual burnout. While Martha’s desire to be a conscientious hostess was great, she had reached breaking point. Probably physically exhausted, and worried about everything being just perfect, her anger and hurt pride caused her to snap, not just at Mary, but at the Lord Himself. “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me”.
We can all emphasise with Martha. We all know the pressure of feeling overwhelmed and unsupported, and how quickly that frustration can boil over. However, this does not excuse her behaviour, or ours, if we react in the same way. Instead of honouring her guest, Martha now scolds Him. Instead of listening to God incarnate, she orders Him around. Serving is a burden rather than a joy, and she’s damaging, rather than deepening, her relationship with Christ.
What went wrong? Firstly, Martha was doing too much—she was “cumbered about with much serving”. Perhaps she was attempting to frost customised cookies for each guest despite only having time to do a simple shared dessert. Just joking! But overburdening ourselves with ‘good’ things, can cost us the ‘best’ thing, our relationship with Christ. Secondly, she was serving according to her own agenda and definition of what was important, rather than relying on the Lord’s wisdom and direction. It’s easy to arrogantly design our own ministry agendas but not even Jesus Christ Himself ever did this. He constantly deferred to God the Father’s authority, praying, “not what I will, but what thou wilt,” (Mark 14:36b) and acknowledging, “I can of mine own self do nothing …I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). Just as Christ relied entirely on His Father’s enabling, we too can only serve effectively when we are dependent on divine empowerment.
Jesus responded to Martha with love and firmness. There is love in the way He repeats her name, responds directly to her concerns and identifies the heart of her problem. God does not dismiss the concerns we bring to Him (1 Peter 5:7), but He will, in love, point out that sometimes we are quick to blame others for problems in our own hearts. While Martha believed all her tasks were essential, Jesus told her, “one thing is needful.” We must not let the "many things" of life become more important than the “one thing”, our relationship with Christ. Serving the Lord matters, but it should be the fruit of our growth in Christlikeness and sanctification as we spent time with Jesus, rather than a me-focused agenda. As Jesus said, “Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Martha could have walked away offended and vowed to never host such an ‘ungrateful’ Guest again. But she didn’t. Later, in John 12, we see her again hosting and serving the Lord and His disciples. However, she had clearly learnt to balance serving with spending time in the Lord’s presence and listening to His teaching, because she showed remarkable insight regarding Christ’s identity and the resurrection (John 11). Here, rather than demanding He fulfil her wishes, she worships Christ as the Messiah.
Are we taking time to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His word? When we prioritise our relationship with Christ, then our service for God will bear much fruit.
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