Always Be Mary

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’
And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’” (Luke 10:38-42 NKJV).

I enjoy the end result of hard work. I enjoy the fruits of my labors. I enjoy feasting with family and friends.

With that in mind, I was thinking about Jesus’ interaction with Mary and Martha quoted above. Doesn’t a hard day’s work and doesn’t every feast have a Martha behind it? And if Jesus says we need to be more like Mary and less like Martha, does that mean I should stop producing and stop enjoying the things others have produced?

Or does it mean that it’s okay to be a Martha most of the time, as long as you know when to switch and be a Mary?

The answer is that you should never be a Martha and you should always be a Mary. Martha was “distracted with much serving.” Don’t do that. If you do, confess it and ask God to make you a cheerful server. Martha was “worried and troubled about many things.” Don’t work like that. If you do, confess it and ask God to make you trust His plan for you (Matthew 6:31-34).

Jesus enjoyed the people around Him. So much so that he was accused of being “a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19 NKJV). But He also worked through the suffering and agony of the cross.

Does this mean He was mostly a Mary, but become a head-down-serving Martha as He suffered and died? No, even at the end Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV).

Don’t be distracted and worried and troubled. Remember what it’s all for. Jesus has “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV), so whatever you do, whether in feasting or suffering, you are always at Jesus’ feet. Enjoy it.

One of my favorite verses sums it up well, “For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:20 NKJV).

What do you think?
Joseph