Luke 10:38-39 (ESV) Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
Jesus came to the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. The two sisters had different priorities in Jesus’ visit. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching to learn from Him.
Luke 10:40 (ESV) But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Martha, on the other hand, was concerned or distracted by all the things she had to do to serve Jesus and probably some of His disciples. Martha’s priority was getting everything in the house just right for Jesus. The fact that Mary was not helping her get the work done, aggravated her. So, Martha complained to Jesus about her sister Mary. Martha actually told Jesus to speak to Mary to get her to help.
Luke 10:41-42 (ESV) But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Jesus made it clear what was wrong with Martha’s attitude. She was anxious and troubled about many things. Jesus told her that only one thing was necessary, and Mary had chosen that thing. Mary had chosen to make listening to and learning from Jesus her priority. Jesus was not going to take her away from being close to Him. We also must choose the one thing necessary in our lives.
The one thing necessary in each of our lives for spiritual growth is to build our relationship with God. There are many things in life that can leave us anxious and troubled, just like Martha. Those things that seem so important really aren’t that important at all. Our first priority should always be to build our relationship with Jesus.
How did Mary do that? She spent time sitting in Jesus’ presence and listening to Him. That should be the priority in your life as well. The things in our life that are priority should be done first and done daily, as we’ll see.
How do we sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him? Jesus will begin to tell us about how to do that in the next verses. Will there be time for getting the things done in life that have to be done? Sure there will be time, once we put our relationship with Jesus first.
If you’re anxious and troubled about many things in life like Martha, something is wrong. Begin to spend time with Jesus every day, a significant amount of time, not just a few minutes. You will begin to see your worry level begin to decrease and your faith and peace grow. Choose the one thing necessary each and every day. In the next secret, Jesus will tell us how to choose the one thing necessary.