Mary at the Feet of the Lord

Luke 10:38-42
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

As Jesus and His disciples went by, they entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received them into her house. Martha had done something that is eminently good in receiving Jesus and His disciples. She did wonderful by choosing to serve the Lord and His disciples. Jesus and His disciples most likely entered Martha’s house without prior information. She probably had to procure all the provisions to cook and serve a sumptuous meal for such a mighty guest and His disciples. She must have run errands to fetch all that she needed and then must have engaged herself in preparing a variety of dishes and serving at the Master’s table. She definitely was working hard and took all the time and the trouble to entertain her valuable guests and make them happy. But was this grand course of preparation needed when she could have finished her preparation well ahead in a minimal time with less or no exertion? Would the Lord Jesus ever desire such luxury from His vessels designed to simply honor and glorify Him?

While serving the Lord is important, does it excel before our communion with Him? No! Our communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ should be our first and foremost priority. Martha could have entertained her guests and satisfied them without overly dedicating her time and efforts for mundane tasks. These tasks could very well be reserved for some other luxurious guests desiring such treatment. She could have simply served something quick and easy yet delicious, and dedicated her time to listen to Jesus. His discourse was high and mighty and where else can she listen to Him more closely than in the comfort of her own house? Yes, serving the Lord is much better than a worldly activity but given a choice between serving the Lord and communing with Him, wisdom would lead us to choose communion before serving. Serving is good as long as we are not cumbered with a load of care. When our serving turns cumbersome then it takes us away from the Almighty. Without dwelling at His feet, our serving is worthless because our own hunger for bread of life turns into starvation. While starving for bread in our own Spirit, our serving turns into just another ordinary task free of the Spirit of God. Only when we have absorbed from the Master’s throne of grace can we squeeze out the Spirit onto others around us.

Martha had a sister called Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus and heard His word. This is similar to Ruth laying at Boaz’ feet all night and thus was redeemed. Mary gave up all her chores and took upon her the only task that is needed. She completely resigned herself from the world and sat at the Master’s feet to listen to Him. It appears that she paid no attention to others at home including her own sister but was simply focused on Jesus. She was absorbing the Master’s teachings and enjoying His fellowship. This troubled her sister Martha who was doing all the activities around her house to keep the guests entertained in serving them. She deviated from the one thing that the Master desires and is now caught up with emotions surrounding her sister’s negligence. Had she joined the Master and His disciples, these emotions would not have captured her. Having chosen to be burdened with a load of care, she was drifting away from the Lord. This caused her to question the Master’s judgment when in truth we have no right to question Him. Her question to Jesus was, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” Her question was indicative of whether the Lord cares that she is tackling everything alone. The Lord of course cares for Martha and desires her to be at His feet too. Martha first chose the most wonderful by having Jesus and His disciples at her house but her act so wonderful was now turned into being cumbersome because she made it so. Now she is about to pull Mary away from the Master and her question says that she was speaking out of emotions rather than in Spirit.

Jesus directly addressed Martha saying, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” He speaks to us directly and addresses us by name when we are struggling with questions and concerns. Jesus’ answer says that Martha is careful and troubled about many things. These many things are pertinent to the body but only one thing is needed for our Spirit. Martha neglected that one thing that the Spirit desires and that is to be at the Lord’s feet. Mary chose that part and Jesus was not willing to take it away from her. He will not take it away from Mary and will not take it away from those of us who make this our primary goal in life.

This message spoke to me personally, as many times I engage in too many activities that strain me physically and draw me away from the Lord. These activities give me very less or no time to be with the Lord. These past few days the Lord has been ministering to my heart about communing with Him and in fact He cares for us so much that He conveys this message by striking a blow some times. Pay attention to His voice and sit at the Lord’s feet and be filled by Him. When we commune with Him we will be refreshed and renewed in our Spirit and the spiritual strength that we gain can help us serve Him in ways that please Him. Today will you make a decision to be at His feet from this time forth and even forevermore and refrain from being cumbered with a load of care and trouble?

Tomorrow: The Woman with the Issue of Blood