Luke 10: 38-42
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Known as the “Swedish Nightingale,” Jenny Lind was a world-famous opera singer who took the world by storm in the mid-1800s. Her fans were shocked when at age 29, at the height of her career, she decided to retire. When Miss Lind was asked why she would abandon the world stage, she laid a finger on her Bible and replied, “When every day it made me think less of this, what could I do?”
Coming fresh off the frenetic, task-focused holiday season, I am always reminded once the New Year comes around that a slower pace is what I long for. Being task-oriented is a natural bent for me, and most times it serves me very well—I do accomplish a lot in a day! But, if I am not careful, I can easily get wrapped up in the doing of tasks and not on the being with God. As Jenny Lind experienced, every task-filled day has the potential to make me think less about God’s Word.
Our verses today tell of an encounter Martha had with Jesus. The setting was Bethany, in the family home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, who frequently hosted Jesus and the disciples in their home. It is assumed that Lazarus inherited the house after his father’s passing and took his sisters in. The unmarried state of the two women was considered a disgrace although some say Martha was the widow of Simon the Leper. Nevertheless, they were considered “disadvantaged” persons in society. In addition, in first-century Judaism, only men were supposed to learn from rabbis, so the fact that Jesus acknowledged Mary’s desire to learn from Him by choosing the “better part” was revolutionary. He was opening the door to women the privilege that had long been denied them.
The account of Mary and Martha opening their home to Jesus has been a reminder once again of how I often fail to “choose the better part.” If I don’t make my time spent with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word a priority every day, I really can’t say He is first in my life. I need to replace my divided, distracted heart with a devoted one. The solution is to cut back and put aside some of the things that are edging out valuable time that should be spent devoted to reading His Word, praying, studying, writing, as well as preparing to lead a new Bible study—to choose the better.
God isn’t calling you and me to do more to have more of Him, rather, He is actually calling us to do less. He is calling us to be with Him. I want to be like Mary—and Jenny Lind—choosing the better part, which will not be taken away from me. I trust you want that, too.
Father in heaven, how we love You and your Word! We praise You for the truths we learn when we dig deeper, precepts that teach and equip us in this life. Thank you for the example of Mary who “chose the better part.” May we be inspired by her example to make it a priority to be with You, sitting at your feet each day, plumbing the riches in your Word. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
-painting by Walter Rane
