Which Will We Choose Today?

Posted on October 25, 2011. Filed under: Uncategorized |

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

When I was reading this yesterday, I saw something in it that I had never seen before. I think this story is the embodiment of Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Martha is the picture of the anxious one, who holds on to all her worries and tries to deal with them on her own. Because I’m sure when Jesus tells her that she is “worried and upset about many things,” He is not just referring to her current role as hostess, but to the way she lives in general. But Mary represents what it means to present our requests to God. She lets go of everything just to sit at His feet and listen. I wonder if she had shared her heart and her concerns at the beginning, and the point recorded in Scripture is her listening to His words of comfort and direction.

These Scriptures show us that there are two ways we can live our lives: We can run around like a crazy person, full of stress and anxiety like Martha did. Or we can have the constant peace that comes from living in the presence and sitting at the feet of Jesus, letting Him bear the weight of all that is too heavy for us to carry. Jesus, teach me how to sit at Your feet today.