Mary and Martha

This week I finished the bible study, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." I REALLY liked it. It was such a good reminder of so many fundamentals.



First - God wants us to be sold out for Him, but to also have a heart of service. We are all familiar with the passage in Luke where Jesus comes to the home of Mary and Martha. Martha is running around making preparations like a chicken with her head cut off while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus. When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping - I LOVE what Jesus said to her- "Mary has chosen what is better..."

Better is Him. How many times do we make that same choice? I confess, more often than not, I don't. I choose anything BUT what is better. I choose family, chores, friends, TV, computer, sleep - you name it.

Yet - the Bible is clear that we are to Love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving our neighbors is where the service part comes is. Plus the Bible is also clear about how as members of the body we are gifted in different ways and for different areas of service. Putting the two together in a BALANCED way is what we should be striving for.

One of the other things I liked about this study was the contrast in Mary and Martha in the story above and then again in John 11 when Jesus is coming to comfort the sisters over the death of their brother Lazarus. The Bible tells us that when they heard Jesus was coming, Mary stayed home but Martha ran to meet Jesus. I think Martha got it this time. This time - she was choosing what was better, Jesus. I find comfort in that. Even though we may lean one way (Mary) or the other way (Martha) - we can change. As believers with the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us - we can become more balanced in the area we aren't naturally prone to.

That was one of the questions we were supposed to ask ourselves in our study. Do you lean more towards Mary or Martha? Most of us in our group answered Martha. One of us answered Mary - not because she was trying to brag about her time with Jesus. In fact, it was the opposite, she felt guilty that she wasn't doing much in the way of service. Neither way is right. Faith without works is dead, but service for the wrong reason & without knowing the heart of Jesus is wrong, too.

I HIGHLY recommend this book. It can be read and studied alone or in a group. I liked it because it was practical yet it was deep and fundamental at the same time. It has left me striving to choose what is better.