My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from
your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;Proverbs 4:20-21
At times, life can seem so overwhelming! Maybe your thinking as you read this; that’s how I feel about my life right now. You may feel like you just don’t have the time to accomplish everything you need to and you’re being pulled from every direction. Your job may be demanding more of you than ever before, your kids need you, the cat had kittens, the oil needs changed in the car, you were asked to teach Sunday School for the next month and the list goes on and on.
So much to do, so little time! Let’s face it, even with all the great technology we have at our finger tips, we live in a very demanding world that can pull at us from every direction.
Thinking about the pressures of life reminds me of two sisters in the Bible that Jesus came to visit. One sister, Martha was on the go, cleaning, cooking, preparing and serving. She wasn’t just doing a little serving that day, the Bible says she was doing; much serving. Running here and there, doing this and that, she was on the move!
Then all of the sudden Martha notices that her sister, Mary was nowhere to be found. When Martha looks for her sister, she finds her sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening along with others in the household.
Martha immediately starts to complain to Jesus about her sister’s lack of caring to help. But Martha found herself shocked by Jesus’ response. And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42.
Martha was not doing anything wrong; she was just allowing the things of life to distract her from the most important thing, taking time to sit still long enough for Jesus to speak into her life.
If we aren’t careful we can fall into the same trap Martha did, doing this or going there and not sitting still long enough for Jesus to speak to us about our day or our life’s journey.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matt 6:33 I like to say, “The concerns of life will fall into place.”
Declaration to Life
With so many demands pulling on me, one thing is needed. I choose to spend time with Jesus and His Word!
Written By: Jensen Ministries
Larry & Chaunda Jensen
lrjensen@sbcglobal.net
Walter Bright 
A “one thing” study of the Bible is interesting. I’ve been struggling to hang onto the One Thing needed – a bit tricky with my daughter, her hubby, and three grandkids living with us for the last month! Their house will be ready to move into next week. HALLELUJAH!
God’s been good, though, and it’s been a very enjoyable month…just hard to get one-on-One time with the Lord. 😉
\o/
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Just heard this in church last Sunday…God’s getting through!! 🙂 Thank you!
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I’ve often contemplated this story. I am a clean freak and often feel I would have related well to Martha. Life IS full of demands, and those of us who feel everything has to be under control before we can sit down and relax and enjoy the company of others, and HIS company, often never end up sitting down at all, and hence miss out on something very important… Something critically important. Thanks for the reminder that we all need a little bit of Mary in our lives, which can take us a lot farther than our day-to-day tasks ever could.
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This story has always intrigued me…neither Martha nor Mary were wrong in their positions; after all the place needed to be cleaned and people needed to be served. I think the key word is BALANCE.
Most of us don’t plan and follow our schedule. We don’t arrange our priorities right either. So any addition to our plate overwhelms us…
God wants us BALANCED….spending time with Him so that He could guide us in how to juggle church, work, family, ministry and ‘me’ time..
Blessings
JC
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Thanks JC for the very well balanced commentary// you got it right!
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At times its easy to get distracted by the world, we must always keep that in perspective! Great insights.
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Thank you much! this one is exactly for the easily distracted – like me. Thank God for such a story and reminder. That’s why I love reading the bible, you come across stuff that hit you right where you need it the most.
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I have been guilty of taking Martha’s approach sometimes… even in church…
So amazing how well planted and how purposeful this story is in the Bible
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I agree.
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