Monday, November 18, 2013

The One Thing

In Luke 10:38-42, Martha, having been busied with all the necessary preparations for entertaining a guest such as Jesus, comes to him, complaining about her sister Mary, who has been sitting at his feet the entire time, listening to he Master speak, instead of helping with the chores. 

Martha saw a need and was filling it, while it appeared Mary was just relaxing and leaving all the work up to her. The truth was, Mary also saw a need and was filling it, the need to hear he Master speak the need to spend time with the Lord. 

Both of the women were right, both were filling needs, but Mary was filling a higher need, or a true need, which Jesus noted in saying, "Mary has chosen what is better" (Luke 10:42b).  In comparing what Martha was doing to Mary, Jesus went on to say that "there are few needs, indeed, only one" (Luke 10:42a).

Jesus' words are not meant to suggest that Martha shouldn't have been concerned with the necessary preparations.  The Bible clearly teaches that we are to "work with our hands" (1 Tim 4:11) but what the "Martha's" of the world or the "Martha" in each of us needs to know is that there comes a time when the good must be set aside for the better. 

Have you not hears or said, "I just don't have time to read my Bible"?  Or, "I'm just too busy to have a daily quiet time."  Or, "I have too much on my plate to make it to church."  The truth is, we allow our lower physical needs to squeeze out our higher spiritual ones. We let the the temporal rule over the eternal. 

Since both are needed, shouldn't we insist on time for each?

Jus' Askn. 

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