“Martha, Martha, you are worried about and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42
Of course the above text is concerning two ladies, Mary and Martha who both loved the Lord. But there is a contrast in the way these two ladies expressed their devotion to their Lord and Master. Martha was at the door and welcomed Jesus into her home when He entered her village (v38). Mary, her sister not allowing a second of this opportunity to be missed, promptly sat herself at Jesus’ feet and listened to his word. This action left a lot of the chores in meal preparation and culinary duties in Martha’s lap. Martha was not going to let this go by, so she confronts the Lord about Mary’s attitude and action so that she might rise from sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to His word and give her a hand!
Martha’s work was legitimate. Someone needed to do what she was doing. But she missed out big time. Her legitimate distractions dragged here away from a greater priority of listening to the Lord and being instructed by Him
Also in her misguided priority Martha also lost the joy of truly serving. She completely lost her cool and of accused the Lord of not caring. Imagine that? So frustrated with her sister she angrily challenge the Lord with, “Lord do you not care...” She rebuked the One who is full of compassion and grace and then demanded that He order Mary to help her! Martha had really lost all perspective, she was right out of control by this time.
But please notice the Lord’s compassionate and gracious response - “Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things but Mary has chosen the good part."
How true it is that we like Martha can allow our lives to also be regulated by what is not necessary. As J MacArthur says; “faithfulness on the job, in the home and in the church has its place but must not be allowed to replace faithfulness to divine truth."