Luke 10:38-4238 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, ” Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” NASUWe live in a society that is on warp speed. We need things in a microwave second. Why is it any wonder why we have a hard time understanding God’s ways? Here is this story of Mary and Martha we see how Martha is going warp speed and Mary is learning at Jesus’ feet. Martha is just running around “Just getting things done!” and we see in v.40 the tone of frustration “Do you not care Lord?” Then she says “Lord tell her to help me!” Martha thinks if I ask Jesus to tell her she will have to listen, because I really am serving the Lord and she is not. Can you identify with this in your own life? I know I do. First, we need to pray and ask God if we are in his will. Second, do we really know all the facts and do we have the other person’s best intrest in mind. Third, are we just stuck in our own way of thinking? When we pray we should ask, “help me Lord to follow and hear your voice.” We are too quick to tell others how to live and do not even take the time to search our own hearts with the Lord. (Psalm 19:13) says Keep thy servant back from persumptous sins. We think that we are the ones that are going to be the mouthpiece of God in people’s lives. We are called to encourage people not tell them what to do. If someone has allowed you to speak into his or her life then that is ok. We are not called to be the Holy Spirit of God, but we are called to be His servant. That means we are to stand buy and carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). Prayer is our acess to know God and know His will. This is how we can effectivly help others know Gods will also. So when we do pray we need to have an open ear to hear God and his answer. Second what are the facts and do we have the person’s best interset in mind? This I believe is so very important so we are not overstepping our boundries with people. Martha only sees that Mary is not helping her serve. Therefore, we can see buy Martha’s statement she believes that serving is doing things. So can serving the Lord look different at times? Yes it can. We can serve Him by sitting at His feet and learning. There are some lessons that the lord wants to teach where we need to be still. This can be a hard task for people that believe they need to be working all the time. The best intrest of another can also be hard to know if we do not have all the facts. In this story, they are sisters and familarity can breed contempt. I think this is kind of, what we hear in Martha’s tone to the Lord. Always keeping in mind you, may think you know best, but the Lord always know better? This can be a hard area to traverse through but with a humble spirit, we can do much Good.Third being stuck can be a hard thing for us to see in ourselves and it can be a good thing. In his book Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli, he talks about being Stuck and unstuck pg.92-93.I would like to add two words to our vocabulary of spiritual growth: stuck and unstuck. Most chriatians consider being stuck a sign of failure or burnout, an indication that a person isn’t working hard enough on their spiritual life. Being stuck means getting an F on our spiritual report card. The hidden assumption is, “if you are stuck in your spiritual life, you aren’t doing something right, because dedicated Christians should never be stuck.Nothing could be more untrue.Actually, being stuck is the prerequisite to getting unstuck.
Therefore, as he says here I think we can be stuck in both ways. One is that we think that all we need to do is keep busy with church things and never take a break to sit at the master’s feet and learn. Or the other is that we are always at Jesus’ feet never getting up to go and do what he has taugh us to do. However, the point of this story is that Mary chose right and was being taugh by Jesus’ and He said it is something that no one can take away. This is true because when you learn a life lesson it gives you knowledge to live your life better. So what are you going to choose today? In todays world Christians have to help each other to find God’s will for our lives. We have to pray, talk to each other, and help carry each other’s burdens. This is what we are called by God to do. Because in our day and age of warp speed and microwave me up we have to slow down.
Prayer
Lord Jesus help us to really learn from your words to just STOP and learn of you and to allow you and others take our burdens so that we can draw those who do not know you to the cross of your salvation. Thank you Lord you have spoken through your word to us. Amen
