A People After Godਨਮੂਨਾ

Mary and Martha - Don’t Get Distracted

Good things can distract you from the best thing. Martha opened her home to Jesus and worked hard to serve him. Mary sat at his feet and listened. Luke says Martha was “distracted by her many tasks” (Luke 10:40 CSB). Serving is good, hospitality is good, but Jesus reminds us that devotion to him is best.

Jesus answers Martha with gentle clarity: “You are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42 CSB). The issue is not serving versus sitting. It’s not necessarily that Martha is serving, it’s how she is going about it. The issue is distraction versus devotion. When our activity for Jesus pulls us away from attention to Jesus, we have missed the point.

Are you distracted? It might be work, finances, a busy home, or even ministry. None of these are bad, but they can crowd out the better portion. The question is not only what you are doing, but why you are doing it. Is your service flowing from love for Christ, or from pressure to perform, to please, or to keep up appearances?

Luke’s language hints at something deeper. In many English translations Jesus says Mary chose “the right choice,” yet the more literal sense is that Mary chose “the good portion” (Luke 10:42 CSB footnote). Throughout Scripture God’s people say, “The Lord is my portion.” Six times in the Old Testament the Lord is referred to as “my portion.” In this story, to choose the good portion is to choose Jesus as your treasure, security, and inheritance. Everything else in life can be taken away. Christ cannot.

John 11 shows that Martha, too, comes to know the better portion. In grief over her brother’s death, she still confesses, “Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:22 CSB). Jesus replies, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this” (John 11:25–26 CSB)? Martha answers with one of the clearest confessions in the Gospels: “Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God” (John 11:27 CSB). In her sorrow she chooses Jesus as her portion.

What is the right choice for you today? Perhaps it is slowing your pace, opening Scripture, and asking Jesus what he wants from you rather than assuming what you must do for him. Perhaps it is serving with joy instead of resentment. Perhaps it is releasing a pressure he never asked you to carry. The best thing is always to sit at his feet and then serve from that place.

Reflection Question: Where are good things pulling your attention away from Jesus this week? What practical step will help you choose the good portion and sit at his feet?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my portion and my life. Quiet my distracted heart. Teach me to choose what is necessary, to listen to your word, and to serve from devotion rather than pressure. Holy Spirit, realign my desires so that the best thing, fellowship with you, shapes everything else. Amen.