As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. 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!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
This verse became very convicting to me six years ago. Since becoming a mom almost 15 years ago, I have wanted to do everything I can to love and support my boys. So, when they started school, I joined the PTA. When they started playing sports, I was the team mom. I helped in their classes, hosted playdates, planned elaborate parties, etc., etc. I’m sure many of you can relate. Six years ago, I was the treasurer for PTA, Little League, and the neighborhood swim team. I never said, “No.” I had taken on too much. There was a moment where I realized (or maybe finally admitted), I started doing all of this for all the right reasons, but my boys were not benefitting from a mom who was present. They had a mom who was busy. And stressed. And it actually detracted from what I was attempting to do. I was like Martha in Luke 10:40.
I confided in a friend, and she recommended reading Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. (I highly recommend it for anyone dealing with overcommitment or striving for perfection.)
Jesus doesn’t care how clean our homes are, or how much we accomplish in a day. He wants our hearts. He wants our time. He wants a relationship with us. Jesus desires us to use our strengths and gifts to serve Him and to draw others towards Him. For us to be able to do what Christ wishes, we need to make time for Him and serving Him. If we are busy with worldly things that won’t matter when this world passes away, we will not have time for serving, growing in our faith and our relationship with Jesus, reading the Bible, fellowship with others, and all the other things that draw us closer to Jesus.
It is so easy to become wrapped up in the cares of life and the busyness of our days. My prayer for all of us is that we become a little more like Mary each day…to learn about Jesus so we become more like Him. To seek Him and be devoted to Him. We need to understand more about Him so that we, then, can bless and serve others the way Jesus did. I pray that we always put Jesus first so we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. (Matthew 5:13-16)