Luke 10:38-42

Luk 10:38 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.
Luk 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
Luk 10:40 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.
Luk 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Luk 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

This very familiar passage is a reminder to us that activity does not always mean achievement. How busy we are isn’t always the best guide to how fruitful we are. It is a particular temptation in Christian work to confuse busyness with productivity and obedience. Jesus reminds Martha that taking time to simply be with him is more important than fussing around distracted by secondary matters, important though these might be.

We often want to be up and about doing all sorts of good and worthwhile things for God and for others. But we need first to get our marching orders from God. We need first to acknowledge and make a priority our personal relationship with God. Otherwise we become overly busy activists who are full of sound and fury but who achieve little.

Being quiet with God, sitting at Jesus’ feet, might not seem productive. And to be sure this is not all we do. We can perhaps speculate that a bit later in this episode Mary did get up and give Martha a hand in the kitchen. Idleness is not being encouraged, merely a right ordering of our priorities.

Only as we stop restlessly doing things will we find out what really needs to be done. We may dare to experiment with a life of doing less in order to accomplish more.

Blessings

David Reay