To Encourage You

Luke 10:38-42 “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary and Martha: they were sisters whom Jesus loved.  And they loved Him.  They would do anything for Him.  In the account above we see them busy about two aspects of any believer’s life as a Christian.  One aspect is service.  Martha had that part down.  She was going all out to serve the Lord.  Surely nothing is wrong with that.  Indeed, we are commanded to “serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2).  We are told to “not be slothful in zeal, (to) be fervent in spirit, (and) serve the Lord”(Romans 12:11).  Service to God is a theme that runs from cover to cover in the Word of God, for such service characterizes the people of God.  

However, in spite of Martha’s zealous service to Jesus in the verses above, she receives a gentle rebuke from her Lord.  He admonishes her for being “anxious and troubled about many things” including the fact that she was busy serving and Mary was not.  Although she had great zeal for service, in the conduct of that service she was fraught with anxiety and critical of others who weren’t doing the same thing she was.  It is at this point that Jesus points to Martha’s sister Mary who was simply sitting at His feet and listening to His teaching.  He pointed to her and told Martha “Mary has chosen the better portion.”  She was calm, resting, and eager to hear what Jesus had to say. 

What a lesson this is for all of us.  You see, service to Christ is a critical aspect of any believer’s life. One of the reasons we’re still here rather than in heaven is to serve Him here. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, but it is through saved sinners that Jesus is reaching those who remain unsaved. That’s your job and it’s mine. And it is a critical thing, the importance of which cannot be overemphasized. However, preeminent to that service must be time alone with the Savior.  It is only in abiding in the Vine that we, the branches, derive our strength to produce fruitful service to Him (John 15).  Time alone with Christ in the study of His Word and prayer gets our thought life straight and energizes us with the power of the Holy Spirit rather than the frailty of our own harried efforts. Time alone with Jesus is the antidote for anxiety, not just while we are spending time at His feet, but in our service to Him that proceeds from our time alone.   It is also the antidote for being critical of everyone else around us as we serve, for time alone with Him helps us to understand that however someone else is serving, it’s not our place to say “what about him or her?” for as the Lord answered Peter when he asked that very question, “what is that to you (John 21:21-22)?” It’s the Lord’s business as to how His servants serve Him, and it’s the Lord’s business as to how we serve Him, but it’s only that latter issue that is our business too. How we are to serve Him, with what attitude, and with what energy comes only from personal time alone with Him. 

May God help us to be such people, who long to spend time alone with the Lord, drinking deeply from His Word and pouring out our hearts to Him in prayer, for it’s only in such time that our service to Him will take a form that truly pleases Him.