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Now it came to pass, as they
went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain
woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had
a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and
heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving,
and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my
sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that
she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But
one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.
Luke 10:38-42.
The context of these
verses is that the Lord Jesus Christ was at the house of
Mary, Martha and Lazarus which was where He stayed any time
that He was in Bethany and most of the time when He visited
Jerusalem, because it was not far from Jerusalem. In this
particular instance, Martha is busy serving, working,
preparing, etc. and Mary is sitting down at the feet of the
Lord Jesus listening to the words of the Lord. Well, Martha
gets a little perturbed because she is doing all the work
by herself and eventually she lets everybody know how she is
thinking and tells the Lord that He ought to make her sister
help her and even accuses Him of not caring that she is
doing all the work by herself. And the Lord says to her, you
are careful and you are troubled about many things. Careful
or full of care; Martha was full of care. Now as
a Christian, you have to be full of care for some things.
The Apostle Paul had the care of all the churches on his
shoulders (II Cor. 11:28). We are supposed to care for one
another and bear each others burdens (I Cor. 12:25). As
women some of us have husbands to care for and even help in
their ministry and we have children to take care of and
train. There are people in the church to care for and on and
on. We must be full of care for some things. But He said one
thing is needful; we will get to that in just a minute.
The Lord also
told Martha that she was troubled; she was all out of sorts,
worrying about everything. I can see her now, running around
wondering if there is going to be enought food, is it going
to turn out all right, where is everybody going to sleep,
and on and on. So far, I have not found anywhere in
the Bible where being troubled is looked at in a good light,
unless, it would be being persecuted which is something we
should rejoice in. The Apostle Paul said about being
persecuted, we are troubled but not distressed (II Cor. 4:8)
But the Lord has told us time and time again, don't be
troubled. Look at John 14:1,27; II Thes. 2:2; I Peter 3:14;
etc.
Again, the Lord said one thing is
needful and that is that personal relationship, sitting at
the feet of the Lord Jesus and hearing His Word. Until you
have done that, all else is in vain. Your service and your
labor for the Lord and for your family will not be as
powerful (Phil. 3:10) , because you will be doing it in the
flesh; and you won't have the joy of the Lord (John
15:11). We must strive to keep that relationship with the
Lord the most important thing. Because if we don't, the care
of this world and even of the ministry will choke out the
Word of God from our hearts;
He also that received seed
among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Matthew 13:22. Philippians
4:6 says, Be careful for
nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
In II Thessalonians 2:2, Paul encourages the church to
..be not soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled....
When we keep our hearts and minds anchored in the Haven of
rest which is our Lord, we won't be careful and troubled.
Are you full of care and trouble today; it is very needful
that you sit at the Lord Jesus' feet for a while and there
you will find rest for your soul.
Until next time, may
the Lord bless you.
Sis. Tanya
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