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)
Today’s focal Scripture is one that cuts to the heart of me. If I’m being totally transparent, I am a worrier. I find myself anxious more than I’d like to admit. On more than one occasion the Holy Spirit has brought this reminder to mind: only One thing is necessary. No, I didn’t capitalize One by mistake because the One thing has a name, Jesus.
As I’ve already said during our time together, if Satan can’t defeat you, he’ll try to distract you. Kids, bills, baseball games, ministry, work, groceries, marriage, and did I mention the four kids!? Everything I just mentioned is not within itself a problem… it becomes a problem when in the midst of the chaos called life, I take my eyes off Jesus. That’s exactly what we see in today’s Scripture.
Martha, her sister Mary, and brother Lazarus were close personal friends of Jesus. In this particular moment, we see Martha trying to be a good host for Jesus and the group that had gathered. She is preparing, serving, cleaning, and no doubt running around crazy trying to make sure everything is just right. I like Martha… I believe she has a servant’s heart. I can relate to Martha, I bet some of you can too.
Right in the middle of all the chaos of the moment, we see this moment unfold: But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” (Matthew 10:40 ESV) Now Martha’s logic seems pretty sound to me… tell Mary to get up and help me, we can get done faster together, then we can both come and hear You speak. Only Jesus knew something Martha didn’t understand, Mary had chosen what was most important (listening to His teaching and spending time with Him) instead of lesser important things, and it would not be taken away from her.
It is here that I want to stop and issue a challenge: what if you stop putting “important” things ahead of the most important Thing? You caught me… I capitalized Thing hoping you’d catch it. What if you stopped putting all these lesser important things ahead of Jesus? Until our vertical relationship with God is most important and has the proper attention, every other horizontal relationship will suffer. While I’m too busy to pray, study the Scripture, make time for private worship, and intentional time for devotion, I will never be the husband, dad, son, brother, and servant I should be.
Today I want to ask you to make a list of everything you do in your week. Go ahead and grab a sheet of paper or open a note on your phone. Now honestly think about each day of the week and write down the things you do. Your list might include things like work, make dinner, watch my favorite TV show, read my favorite book series, spend time on social media, read to the kids, play cards with my spouse, grocery shop, run errands, and on and on.
Now chances are incredibly likely that nothing on your list jumps out and says, “I’m going to take you away from the most important thing in your life and distract you.” And yet… this is exactly what is happening in the lives of countless millions. Look at your list again, if you didn’t write one, stop what you are doing and go back and write your list. What lesser important things need to be put on hold so you can make time for the most important thing? Honesty time… are you ready to reprioritize your life so Jesus is not just another thing you do but the One for whom you do everything else?
Father, please forgive me for letting the distractions in my life steal my attention from You. Lord, I pray today that you would remind me often not to let the distractions of this world, no matter how holy, good, or right, to take my attention off you. Jesus, help me fix my eyes on You because I know that You are the Author and Perfector of my faith. Please help me prioritize my life in a way that doesn’t make You a second thought but the place I start and end my day, my thoughts, and my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
