Let’s begin our discussion of Mary and Martha with the Scripture passage that Emily chose:
“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.'”
Luke 10:38-42
I always feel sorry for Martha when I hear this passage. She is working so hard to care for everyone, and certainly service to others is to be valued. I imagine she felt disheartened when Jesus did not seem to be as impressed with her work as she thought he would be.
But the lesson for us is important. We have to place a value on our time with Jesus. This is the example Mary sets for us in this story. She sits at the feet of Jesus and hangs on His every word. Of course, there were probably many other things she could have been doing, including helping Martha with the work of the house, but she put time with Jesus ahead of everything else.
So what does this mean in our lives? How do we prioritize our time? Emily talks about the tendency in our culture to have too many things going on all the time. We are so busy! Our busyness tends to be a distraction, or even an excuse, that keeps us from really important things, like time with Jesus.
Seriously, how do you manage your prayer life? Do you have a regular routine of prayer, or is time with Jesus left as something that you will get around to when you catch up on all your work? This is essentially Emily’s first question for discussion this week:
“Do you create a false sense of ‘busyness’ in your life that consumes your being and leaves you feeling unfulfilled or sad? Is there a way you can manage your time better so that you are not always so ‘busy’?”
I would love to hear about your struggles with being too busy. Let’s discuss it in the comments.