But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41–42 NLT
Mary and Martha perfectly depict the inner battle that most women fight daily. Martha busied herself with tasks in her desire to serve people. Mary, on the other hand, ignored the tasks, choosing fellowship with her Master over service to others. Martha surely felt as though she had no choice, because the people needed to be fed and someone had to do it. And, as scripture reports, she resented the lack of help that she got from Mary.
What Martha did was not wrong; her priorities were just out of order. Jesus teaches her that relationship with her Lord is the highest priority. Mary, however, was not about to give up precious moments with her Lord while she labored in a kitchen.
It’s very easy to create a life jam-packed with responsibilities and commitments with no time to enjoy any of it or seek fellowship with the Father. If you find that you too have “the Martha syndrome,” take some time out to sort through the priorities and decide what is really important.
Jesus, I want to be like Mary, patiently and expectantly sitting at Your feet in relationship with You. Help me to sort out my duties and commitments in such a way that proves that I have discovered the one thing worthy of my concern. Amen.
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Today’s reading was adapted from Daily Wisdom for Women: 2013 Devotional Collection with permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading was written by Nicole O’Dell.