We are stunned by Jesus' reply. We expect Him to look at Mary and firmly tell her, "go and help your sister." Instead He looks at Martha and forthrightly declares, "Martha, Martha, 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." (41-42)

Busyness and worry are two of the greatest inhibitors of spiritual growth and contributors to spiritual demise. Someone once insightfully said, "when the devil can't get you to sin, he makes you busy." There are many demands upon our lives. Mixing this reality with the mistaken notion that busyness equals importance and we with the delusion that we can and should do everything we want to is a recipe for heart failure - both physically and spiritually.

Note that Jesus was very specific about the problem. He told Martha that she was worried and upset about many things. Mary, on the other hand, had "chosen what was better." Martha was not scolded for what she was doing. She was reprimanded for being worried, upset and not making the correct choice. Busyness is a matter of choice. We become worried and upset when we fail to exercise Christian wisdom and discipline in our lives. It is easier for us to let others dictate our schedules than to do the arduous task of keeping our own. It is easier to involve ourselves in many good things than to do the "one thing needed." It is easier to be duped into believing that the busier we are the more important we are, than to sit at the feet of Jesus and do "what is needed." It is easier to shout at Jesus about the laziness of others than to admit that we are doing more than He wants us to do. It is easier to go with the flow than to correct our unhealthy habits.

There are those who suggest that we are busier today than people used to be. They propound that our busyness makes it impossible for us to be as involved in ministry and the church as Christians used to be. They submit that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done and still have time for God, His Word and prayer. It is hard to dispute that people are busier these days, but it is not because we have so much more to do. It is because we are making the unwise choices to be involved in too many things.

Beloved, it is time to rediscover the "one thing needed." It is time to make wise decisions regarding what is best. We have more than enough time to do what God wants us to! If we don't have enough time it is probably because we are doing more than He wants us to.

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry