Quite frankly, I have never much understood the whole Mary/Martha thing. If anyone knows of a fabulous sermon out there that would bring the whole thing into perspective for me, send it (or a synopsis) my way.
See, I read the story and think, “Mary gets to sit at Jesus’ feet BECAUSE Martha is taking care of the mundane, but necessary tasks.” Wouldn’t it be just grand to invite people over, and then never get around to feeding them because I’m listening to them talk. Maybe Jesus wasn’t hungry, maybe it wasn’t really meal time, maybe Martha had taken on more than was called for. I don’t know, because it doesn’t exactly say. But I often find myself sympathizing with Martha, because my days are filled with what I would consider Martha-like tasks.
A partial list, so you can see what I mean:
- Dressing the girls
- Helping them fold their pjs, make their beds, and clean their room
- Feeding the baby
- Brushing teeth
- Making dinner
- Cleaning the kitchen
- Instructing the children
- Reading to the children
- Disciplining the children
- Laundry
- Mopping, dusting, vacuuming, organizing, planning
- Cleaning toilets
- Toileting and changing Patience as necessary
But are these things not important, too? It would seem they are, since Titus 2 commands the older women to teach the younger women to “love their children, be keepers at home.” And part of loving my children is to see that they have clean clothes, clean teeth, and occasionally clean bodies. So when I read “you are troubled and anxious about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her,” I wonder what to do with it.
So here I am, despairing of ever achieving, or understanding, even, Mary-status, and that drives me to become a better Martha, dedicating my life to serving my family and others, diligently studying my calling and becoming the best manager of my home that I can be.
5 comments:
you've got me thinking.....what's your e-mail...perhaps we can encourage one another on this one....Love, Liz
you're in good company, I'm as clueless as you are about that
It's very easy to get task oriented and forget about the things that are really more important. Yes, those things are needful and need to be done, but it is not more important than feeding your soul or your children's souls. I believe you were right in thinking that Martha was probably trying to do much more than was really needed. I have always applied this to QT also. If I get up and spend an hour of QT with Jesus, I am much more prepared to start my day. The whole point is to not make the tasks more important than the one thing needful, which is communing with Christ. Here is another example that just popped in my head. Sometimes I just have to throw off everything right then and there and go to my room and get on my knees. That is much better than yelling at my kids or crying my eyes out in front of them. Perhaps something doesn't get done as it should or some things are left undone, but the focus isn't to be on the doing, but on the being. I think I rambled on a bit here, but I hope it helped a little. I think the whole point is just to make sure our focus and priorities are in the right place. If my focus for the day is to check off all my to do things and not on Jesus, then I am being a Martha. But if my focus is on Jesus and trying to abide in Him throughout the day, then I just trust Him when there are things left undone. Right now, I am much more focused on my children's spiritual needs rather than academics.
Thanks Tina, that was helpful to me. :)
Hey Jeni, I came across this Spurgeon quote when I was browsing a book called Shopping for Time.
Of course it made me think of this post.
Becky, I am really glad God was able to use me to encourage you!
"We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune." Charles Spurgeon
Post a Comment