ARE YOU LIKE MARY OR MARTHA?

One thing I love about the book of Luke is that it contains stories of Jesus that are not in any other of the gospels. One of those stories is when Jesus visited Martha and her sister Mary. Do you ever think about who you identify with the most? Are you more like Mary or Martha?  Martha believed who Jesus was and had growing faith.  She also had a strong desire to do everything right! (yep, that is me!). Mary was content just spending time with Jesus – she didn’t care about all of the activities needed to prepare for dinner.

Martha welcomed Jesus with open arms into her home.  But Luke writes in Chapter 10:38, “Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.  She wanted to make everything perfect but she was neglecting spending time with Jesus while he was there.  We’ve all hosted dinner parties for family and special friends and have felt the weight of trying to make everything perfect! Martha was so caught up in the details of her dinner planning that she forgot the main purpose of the event.  Have you ever finished cleaning up from a dinner party and thought, “well I don’t feel like I got to speak to anyone!”

Frustrated and upset, Martha took her complaint to Jesus because she couldn’t understand why her sister Mary wasn’t helping! And I just love the response that Jesus gives her. He loves us so much! “My dear Martha (can’t you hear the love here?), you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about.” That ONE thing was Him.

As I’ve studied Martha this week I’ve come to realize that we need a little bit of both Martha & Mary. Being prepared and organized is necessary; especially as we work and manage our homes. But it’s even more important that we take time to rest, sit with Jesus, and just be in His presence. When we put Jesus first and focus on our relationship with Him, the planning and organizing will be time filled with peace and contentment instead of worry and stress.

Love from Rooted,

Heather & Lisa