Luke 10:41-42 (NASBStr)
But the Lord answered and said to her, “ Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Do you know what is necessary in life? The story of Martha vs. Mary is so compelling and instructive for today. Today's life, designed to be carefree and trouble free, is, instead, complicated, busy and taxing. The very things that were created to free us from one thing, tie us to two. We take time off from the hustle and bustle only to find ourselves creating more of the same. In the above story Martha, to our knowledge, had no technology. She had no electricity. She had no comfortable "food channel" cooking gear. She probably had a dirt floor home with a pot over a fire place. She didn't have a couch but many, well-worn, rugs. She didn't have a Cosco or Walmart to run to for buying in bulk. And, she didn't have a normal guest. This was not the neighbor next door. It wasn't the king of the country, either. It was the King of the Universe. She knew it and she was not about to drop the ball on this. Imagine the most important person you know coming to your house. Think of the preparations you would make. Before we are too hard on Martha we need to first empathize with her. We are all Martha in many ways. And, we all need Martha's lesson. Note the Lord's words: "but only one thing is necessary." The one thing that was necessary was placing herself under the teaching of The Lord. The preparations had their time. But, now it was time to stop and listen. We see this often of those who "prepare" the services for others. Church workers are so busy making everything right for others that they miss out on the faithful listening of the teaching going on within the service. The word "necessary" is used almost 50 times in the N.T. It is often translated "need". Note how Paul uses it when writing to young Timothy about the responsibility of the Pastor to teach others how to minister:
Titus 3:14
Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.
The believer can get so relaxed Paul has to write a letter to encourage them to get busy for God (Thessalonians). They can get so busy they miss out on the teaching of the day (Timothy). Remembering that the most pressing need is the submissive time we take to stop preparing and start listening. When we stop feeding the soul the body can't do the other things that are necessary.
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