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 11:38-42
* My emphasis.
NKJ
it is funny you wrote on this as this passage has been on my mind. I am certainly a Martha.
ReplyDeleteHow should we balance all the things that keep us busy, when most the things that keep me busy are housekeeping and family, to spend more time praying and studying God's Word?
I lean towards the "Martha" side, too! I repent often!
ReplyDeleteDid you ever read Brother Lawrence's classic, Practicing the Presence of God? It reminds me of the scripture we read this week in Col. 3:2.. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on this earth.
Bro. Lawrence could not wait until he arrived at the monastery for he had pictured he would spend long hours in prayer but where did they place him? In the kitchen.. the noisiest place! He began 'practicing' God's presence.. I think maybe every 15 minutes WHILE HE WAS WORKING. Thoughts about God and His majesty.. scriptures,etc. Then he began doing that every 10 minutes until he trained himself to think on God continually throughout his day AS HE WAS WORKING. I love that thought and try hard to put it into practice.. but also fail daily. Nice to hear from you! :-)
Sigh, I'm so a Martha .. appreciated your previous post which for some reason I did not see. I totally agree with you. I so love to be at home, and being at home helps to save money as you can do so much from scratch. I would gladly sacrifice to be at home, and we definitely have, since I've retired. My husband frequently speaks of how thrilled he is to have me at home. :-) Me too.
ReplyDeleteYes, its easy to be Martha, especially with the holidays in full swing. Shouldn't we at least at Christmas focus on the wonder of our saviour! The world came up with trees, decorating, caroling, and all that food! I was astounded when a man at church told me his son had four Christma trees in his bedroom. Really? what is this worldly excessiveness teaching? I'm trying to tone it all down, less is more!
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