One thing is needful and Mary knew.

Bethany, outside of Jerusalem, 32 AD…

Two women. Two sisters. Both awaiting Jesus’ arrival. But in vastly different ways.

Just imagine what it may have looked like.

I can imagine Martha bustling about, gathering the goods, and picking from the harvest in the garden, as she was preparing for His approach. I can envision her hurrying along plucking figs and olives from the trees, grinding the flour in preparation for the flatbread, and making sure all her garnishes were ready for the meal. She was in a non-stop hospitable place.

Meanwhile, Mary was readying in a different way. It was a manner that was quiet, purposed and peaceful. I can picture her delicately retrieving her precious perfume that had been sealed inside a fragile, long-necked flask. Knowing that the Savior was coming, she was arranging for His presence.

One epitomized serving, productivity and domesticity and ministry.

The other encapsulated presence, discipleship, posture and yieldedness.

Enter the Messiah…

As food was served and hospitality ensued, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. But Martha remained duty focused, and continued working and serving. And as her sister remained at the feet of Jesus, Martha grew more and more frustrated.  She may have been thinking or saying “Mary is sitting idly while I do all of the work. She needs to help me!” Oh, but there was nothing idle about Mary’s posture.  You see, Mary was focused on relationship, she knew the good part and wanted every second of His presence.  Martha ends up complaining and asking Jesus to tell her sister to help with hosting.  (As a point of reference, this was a family that Jesus frequently visited, loved and they were familial friends.) Jesus gently replies, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.” He gently corrects her, noting that while she is worried and distracted by many things, only one is truly necessary. He also praises Mary for choosing the “better part”—spending time in his presence, the good portion—which will not be taken from her.

You see…Martha was about the work but Mary was about the Word.

Martha, Martha…

There are two things that I love. One is Mary’s prioritizing the relationship with Jesus of course but I also delight in the fact that Jesus calls Martha by her name twice. Biblically, having a name called twice is a mark of intimacy, deep affection, and a profound moment of calling. (Martha is notable for being the only woman in the Bible addressed this way by Jesus. There are only seven times in the Bible when God uses a name twice – and they are all significant moments of calling: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, MARTHA, Simon and Saul.)

Jesus saying her name twice wasn’t patronizing, it was quite the opposite. It was tender, loving and reaching as He always is. So though Martha was anxious about all of the prepping, the moral is not that chores are bad. There is such beauty in her work ethic. But it goes deeper than work. It wasn’t that Martha was looking after guests, it was her fretting about doing so. And the busyness overshadowing relationship.

“Both sisters represent valid and necessary aspects of faith.”

Busy Goodness…

Fast forward to present day Christianity. We have all mostly heard this biblical story but do we take it to heart?

There is a busy goodness (that’s what I call this). It’s a goodness of productivity, running here and there, bustling about like Martha doing “good” things. It doesn’t have to be bad things for it to be wrong and out of order. You can be TOO busy doing the good things. As a matter of fact, I feel like doing the good makes us even more relentless in “the doing”! Because IT IS good.

As a Christian, my ultimate goal is pleasing Jesus. But in order to do so, I need to know what He requires and desires from me. How do I gain this heart knowledge? Well, quite simply by spending time with Him. In prayer. In His Word.

People get so busy. And this includes the church. Church is important and needful of course but when we are so busy running to event after event, meeting after meeting and bustling about “doing good”, let me ask…when do we have time to sit with the Savior?

We need to sit down with Jesus.

Now, Christians, please don’t misconstrue what I am conveying. Attending church, reaching out and helping others, and being a part of the Body, all needful. But I don’t think Jesus would have us running around like chickens with our heads cut off, saying yes to everything man requires. This includes outside of Church as well. Constantly making ourselves busy is not ideal. Especially if we are not spending time with Him. Time in His presence supersedes everything else!

I think that the church can at times be the most disillusioned in this regard. The constancy of running depletes the Christian as he or she should be sitting. I am talking to myself, believe me.

The absolute best for you, for me, is to be in His presence first before anything else. Yielded before the Trinity, brings freedom in a way that lightens your path. You can then see what He has for you and what He is telling you.

I’ll leave you with a little story. Years ago, when I was a teenager, there was a Sunday that my mom was late to church. This was not intended. As she went for her coffee, she ended up ministering in Dunkin Donuts and a person accepted Jesus. If my mother was just on a mission with getting to church and doing her to dos that day, she would’ve quite possibly missed the Holy Spirit’s urging.

Sometimes busyness can take us off the course. If you’re too busy, you can miss the timing of God. His course is where it’s at. We never want to miss the Holy Spirit. His timing is perfect.

God bless!

Tanya