Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mary or Martha?

Luke
The passage I am commenting on today is rather short, so I'll just post it below.  Here is Luke 10:38-42:
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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
 
When I read this story, I often assume that it would be really easy to be Mary.  Who wants to do the house work anyway?  But when it comes right down to it, and I honestly think about it, I have to admit that I might find myself hanging out in the kitchen doing the work, thinking that it was more important to make sure Jesus had the best possible experience when in my home.  After all, I wouldn't want my guests to have bad food or be bored, or think my place was dirty.  But the main point of our relationship with Jesus, which should spill over into our other relationships, is spending time with him.  Being with people is key.  It's certainly a tough balance between maintaining a household and working, and spending time with family and friends.  It's not always an easy decision to make.  The right choice is not always clear.  We can take a lesson from Mary, though, and try to spend more time with God and less time with things and being busy just to be busy.

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