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!”


Paying close attention to the Scriptures here you will notice that it was Martha who invited Jesus to their home in the first place. She had the genuine desire to spend some quality time with the Lord. But when He stopped by though she got busy, preparing a nice meal, setting the table, arranging the center piece etc, forgetting to fellowship with the Lord. She got so overwhelmed to a point of frustration!

Mary on the other hand cared the least for the meal or what to feed Him and His disciples but chose to sit at His feet listening to the Lord.

Martha is now distraught! She has so much to do and so little time and above all Mary is not helping! Naturally she is irritated and complains about Mary to the Lord.

But to her dismay, the Lord takes the side of Mary. Not that He didn't appreciate the hard work Martha was putting into to make His visit special for Him and His disciples but that Martha didn't come to benefit from the fellowship she could have enjoyed with the Lord.

Mary had truly made the best use of every minute she spent with the Lord. She wanted to hear as much as possible. She wanted to share as much as possible.

Clearly we all fall into either one or the other category. Are we relaxed when it comes to spending time with the Lord or are we upkeep and busy running too many errands that we suppose are equivalent to spending time with the Lord?  Are we distracted like Martha or composed and at peace like Mary?

Do we worry and get upset about many things or have we chosen what is better? Do we cherish His fellowship or be concerned about the details?