“Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful.” ….Luke 10:41
Let us be very honest with ourselves here; work for the Lord has its attractions. It can thrill you when people gather to hear you preach. But maybe, if instead, you are compelled to stay at home and be occupied from morning to night with only the mundane affairs of life, you will soon begin to think, “How meaningless my life is! How great to get out and serve the Lord! If only I were free to go around preaching!” But that is not spirituality! It may be no more than a giving in to our own personal, natural preferences. Is it not possible that much of our so-called service for God is simply no more than the pursuit of our own inclinations; our will? Maybe we are so restless we cannot bear to stay at home, so we run around trying to do God’s work for our own benefit and relief from sheer boredom!
Today in the Church as the body of Christ, we may be doing our utmost to study God’s word so as to be approved of by God and by the brethren, or to just be an accepted Christian. Maybe we are labouring to witness and save sinners, but here it says that one thing only is needful. And that is, “Are we ministering to Him?” Are we ministering to the Lord Jesus Himself? Do we have a one to one, loving on-going communication with Him? Are we anointing the Lord Jesus with our love for him alone? When was the last time you told the Lord Jesus that you love Him? When did you last praise, worship and adore Him with all your heart and mind? Mary had done this to Jesus( verse 39): “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word”. Mary had received the ‘good part’, she had heard God’s word! …faith it is that comes by hearing, and that hearing comes by listening to and seeing God’s Word!