Luke 10:38-41    As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Have you ever found yourself in circumstances that seemed to require every second of your time and you were unable to participate in the best part because there was no one to help you?  That was what was going on when Jesus came to visit Mary and Martha.  Martha wanted everything to be especially nice, maybe even perfect, and she was going overboard in her preparation of the meal.  She resented Mary sitting and listening to Jesus’ stories and teaching, leaving her to do all the work.  When she confronted Jesus with her dilemma, He kindly helped her to see that her priorities were not in order.

Often in the course of a day a mother can get all bent out of shape in dealing with her family and miss those opportunities that present themselves to enjoy her husband and children.  I think the lesson we can learn here from Jesus’ words is to take time to think through what is more important.  In other words, when we get our priorities in proper order we can experience the peace that passes all understanding rather than that sense of being overwhelmed.

-Cookie