One Thing Needed
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. - Luke 10:41-42
Martha knew how to entertain with style. It took its toll on her. She was careful and troubled all the time, especially when she had company. Perhaps she was a perfectionist and that was no doubt a great strain on her body and soul.
Mary knew how to be in the moment with Jesus. Jesus saw the value in both kinds of hospitality, but He wanted Martha to know that when tending to details interfered with tending to the Master Himself, just being with Him was all that really counted.
It is still what really counts.
It counts for the busy mother, the harried executive, the flustered teacher, the hard-driven salesman, and the politician in the pressure cooker of legislative compromise. It is what counts for the safety officer whose life is about responding to life or death emergencies, for the soldier who must be ever vigilant, and for the person caught up in the stress of ministry, working for the Lord.
We can get so absorbed with doing what needs to be done that we miss the one thing that is needed, a vital and ever deepening relationship with Jesus Christ. What did that mean for Mary who was commended for making the right choice?
Luke tells us that Mary sat at His feet and listened. We assume she was younger since it was Martha’s home. She was bold and eager and she was as absorbed in the words of the Master as Martha was in the work of the manor.
We must sit at His feet listening with youthful eagerness and bold audacity that puts our tasks in their place and elevates the times of devotional prayer, scriptural meditation, and reflection to the highest priority of our lives.
What Martha did that day would provide a meal and soon be forgotten. What Mary did could not be taken from her.
I can clear my desk, meet all my calendar demands, and execute multiple strategies to change the world for a time and leave the world inside of me unchanged. I will have some small accomplishments, but I will burn out before the end of the journey and miss the moment of meeting, the moment of transformation, the movement of grace.
It may seem that what startles you out of bed at the last minute tomorrow morning is the most important thing in the universe. It will not come close to the value of a relaxed and unhurried time at the feet of the Master.
It is the one needed thing.
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