Mary and Martha

This morning on my way to work I was worrying about something. My thoughts were probably on what I had to do that day. I have been meditating on the Luke passage where Jesus tells Martha that she is worried about so many things but that only one thing is needful. See Luke 10:38ff I have pasted the passage in below for your review.

Lately, I have been thinking about what Jesus told Martha about Mary...that she (Mary) had chosen the good part. I have been wondering if I have been going about my daily activities and responsibilities all wrong. What if I took God at His Word and chose the good part, in other words, what if I chose to make sitting at the feet of Jesus the priority everyday? Surprisingly (and I should not be surprised because my Lord is a great God and King) everything seems to work itself out when I do not make the job my priority. I get extensions on my deadlines. My calendar gets amazingly cleared up and generally I learn that I am just not that important to everything. The world goes on even if I don't work 12 hours a day. :-) Don't get me wrong I still have to get my work done but somehow He just makes a way for me. I can't explain.

I also thought to myself, "Why did the Lord include this little passage about Mary and Martha in the Bible." It almost seems out of place in the text. Jesus is busy teaching the disciples and sending out the 70 in the verses prior to Luke 10:38. Then in Luke's Gospel, he tells of Jesus making a stop in a village where Martha welcomed Him in her home. I am sure throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was invited into many homes. By why was this incident mentioned?

The thought came to me that God knows women. He made us right? We are so subject to being distracted by so many things. I have never been married but in my experience, men basically have one track minds. A man can walk into a room and be focused on the fact that his favorite game is on television. A woman can walk into the same room and turn on the television, but then remember she needs to call Mary Jane, or wonder if she remembered to pay a bill, and at all at the same time keep up with the pertinent details of what is going on in the next room. Wow. This makes me tired just typing this.

Our Lord left this little message to you and to me: "_________, you are worried about so many things but only one thing is necessary. Sit at my feet and learn of Me."

Thank you Lord, I believe I will...

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named aMartha welcomed Him into her home.
39 She had a sister called aMary, who was bseated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
40 But aMartha was distracted with 1all 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, “aMartha, Martha, you are bworried and bothered about so many things;
42 abut only one thing is necessary, for bMary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, S. Lk 10:38-42