At Jesus’ Feet
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42
In Luke 10:38-42, we read about Lazarus’ sisters – Mary and Martha. Jesus was in their town, and Martha invited Jesus over to their house. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus while her sister, Martha, was distracted with chores.
Martha asks Jesus to rebuke her sister for not helping with the preparations. Jesus does not respond how she wanted Him to or how she thought He would.
Rather, Jesus addressed the root of Martha’s serving. She is serving out of worry and is upset. Jesus also lauds Mary saying she was the one doing the better thing. The better thing is to be at His feet.
This clearly tells us that being busy and doing ministry is not always the better thing.
Martha was not doing anything wrong, but her heart was troubled, and that is the place she was serving from. We can be serving and doing all the right things and miss out on what we should really be doing, which is being with Jesus.
God wants our hearts. If our hearts are not right, it does not matter what we can accomplish.
It is not saying that we never have to serve or get anything done. Instead, it says to choose to be like Mary and put Jesus first, then serve from that place!