RESTਨਮੂਨਾ

Halfway

There was a time when Jesus came to a certain village where He was invited to be a guest in the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. While He was visiting with the sisters, Martha was scrambling around serving and making preparations, trying to be a good host. Meanwhile, Mary was just sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words. We don’t see Mary lift a finger or even offer the slightest bit of service to Jesus, and that infuriated Martha.

Now, let’s step back for a second. Many of you reading this might think that Martha was being a good host and Mary was not. I mean, from Martha's eyes, she was trying to work and serve the Lord with all her heart, and meanwhile, her sister appeared to be sitting and doing absolutely nothing. However, interestingly enough, when Martha tells Jesus to command Mary to get off of the floor and help serve, Jesus has a shocking response. He tells Martha that she’s worried and distracted by many things, but that there is only one thing to be concerned about. Mary had discovered it: sitting at the feet of Jesus, and it would not be taken from her.

While Martha’s intentions may have been in the right place, she failed to realize that to host His presence, you must give Him your full attention. So often, we’re like Martha in that we’re constantly trying to please the Lord with what we can do and how we can serve Him, which is honorable at heart, but we make excuses or forget to actually be with Him. We must understand that He wants us to spend time with Him at His feet, listening to what He has to say. In that place alone, will we truly discover who we are (our identity), what to do (our assignment), and how to do it for Him—with Him at the forefront of it all.