Mary and Martha

“Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.” — Luke 10:42

Jesus had some very good friends in a village called Bethany. There were two sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus. Jesus loved all three of them.

One day Jesus came to visit, and Martha welcomed Him into her home. There was so much to do! There was food to cook and bread to bake, and the table to lay, and water to fetch, and everything to get ready for their special guest and His disciples.

Martha rushed around the kitchen, getting hotter and crosser.

But where was Mary? She was sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him teach.

Martha had had enough. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!”

But Jesus answered her gently. “Martha, Martha,” He said, “you are worried and upset about so many things. But only one thing is really needed. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha wasn’t doing anything wrong by cooking a meal. Serving people is a good thing to do. And Jesus loved Martha. But Martha was so busy doing things for Jesus that she didn’t have any time to be with Jesus. And she was worried and grumpy and cross.

Mary had chosen the best thing: to sit with Jesus and listen to Him.

Being busy isn’t bad. But it’s easy to get so busy, even with good things, that we forget to spend time with Jesus. And spending time with Him is the most important thing of all.

How can we sit at Jesus’ feet today? We can’t see Him the way Mary did. But we can read the Bible, which is His Word. We can pray, which is talking to Him. We can sing to Him. And we can be quiet and remember that He is with us.

Read it in your Bible: Luke 10:38–42

Dear Jesus, I want to choose what is best, like Mary did. Help me not to be so busy that I forget to spend time with you. Thank you that you are always happy to have me sit with you. Amen.