Jesus begins this portion of the Sermon on the Mount by connecting the struggle with worry with what he is about to teach us about the nature of worry. The reality is that most of us are to painfully aware of being in the midst of this struggle. Consider these statistics from the American Physiological Association
- 3/4 of Americans report that they experience symptoms related to stress in any given month...
- 1/3 of us feel as though we are living with extreme stress
- over 1/2 indicate that their stress is only increasing
- Workplace stress costs more than $300 billion each year in health care, missed work and stress-reduction
As we think about living in the midst of this struggle, consider the example of Martha and Mary, who responded very differently when Jesus came and entered their home.
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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
I find Martha and Mary’s example extremely relate-able. On the one hand I want to, like Mary, sit at the feet of Jesus and find my supply in him. I want to be about his business, his priorities and operate according to his values and yet I find myself so often in the place of Martha, busy with all the wrong things and missing the opportunity to rest in the One who is both my Master and my provider.
What is the balance here? Some has to be the Martha, right, or nothing would ever get done? The question becomes one of priorities. How do we, like Mary, make Christ our first priority? As you think about the day in front of you, how can you go about your day while at the same time making Christ your highest priority? What will that look like for you today? Look again at the Words of Jesus to Martha, "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
As you enter into a time of prayer, ask God to help you order your day according to His priorities. Ask him to free you from the demands of the day and to enable you to live today “at the feet of Jesus”.
Sterling Moore
Pastor of High School Ministries
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3 comments:
I think we need to be careful that when we are doing God's work that we don't put burdens on others in the family. While God's should be first, I don't believe that he wants us to forget our responsibilties to our family. Us doing God's should not put our fmaily at odds.
Great insight and reminder. We are the best parents or the best spouses when God's priorities are our priorities.
I never noticed before that it was MARTHA who invited Jesus and the disciples into her/their home, not Mary. Maybe Mary would have been perfectly fine, just sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to him teach, wherever ELSE he had been invited to eat & stay that evening. Perhaps like a lot of other women/homemakers, I think I have a tendancy to invite work upon myself (and then complain about it!), when my husband keeps reminding me I do not have to be THE ONE to volunteer to do such-and-such! Of course, Martha was probably MEANT to invite Jesus in (so we would have this good lesson in the BIble!), and hospitality to others & missionaries etc. is a VERY important ministry. But, I also see here (a revelation from the Holy Spirit) that when my daughter says, "But I don't WANT to have all my friends come to OUR house - it's not my thing, I get too stressed about it" - well, that's OK, and that's also a wise decision on her part, one that I should imitate sometimes! :)
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