When Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary, Martha decided to make sure that she was cooking and cleaning because there were many preparations to be made. But Mary, on the other hand, decided to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him teach.
Martha became flustered because she had so much going on. She was overwhelmed, and to be fair, there were legitimate logistics and things that needed to be addressed. Let’s listen to how Jesus responds to Martha.
“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.” (Luke 10:41-42 ESV)
I love how Jesus doesn’t condemn Martha for being busy and cooking and taking care of the household. But Jesus gently reminds Martha not to worry about many things when only one is necessary or better.
Mary at Jesus’ feet intently listening to Him and enjoying His presence teaches us how to prioritize God, put Him first, and make Him the guest of honor in our hearts.
So how can we not become so distracted by all the real life responsibilities that we have that we can’t just ignore? What we have to realize, like Mary realized, is that we can’t be anxious about what needs to be done.
We have to release it to God. When we put God first, when we say I’m going to wake up early and spend time with God, we’re putting our faith in Him by believing the time and presence that we offer, God will bless. We trust that whatever we can’t do during that time and whatever responsibility we can’t meet because we’re with God, God will take care of it or He will give us the strength to do it at a later time. We have to realize that God is the God of time. He created time. Today, I encourage you to put God first by scheduling time to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding me to not worry about tasks, but to focus on spending quality time with You and letting You speak to me. In Jesus Christ’s Name, I pray, Amen.