So, what’s your plan for the day? Would you like to do something for Jesus? Maybe you’re interested in the sort of mission work Jesus sent the seventy out to do at the beginning of this chapter (Luke 10:1). Or maybe you’ve taken Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan seriously (Luke 10:30-35), and you’d like to care for the needy. Or maybe, like Martha, you’ve got some house-cleaning to do if you want to have guests over (Luke 10:38-40), paving the way for evangelism by building relationships.

But however good and necessary all these things are, Jesus insists that there is something even better, even more essential to the Christian life. For while Martha was busy doing all her good works, Mary was just sitting – but she was sitting at the feet of Jesus. She was humbling herself before Him, hanging on His every word. In other words, Mary may have been still, but she wasn’t idle. She was focused on “the good part” of life, the most important thing: her relationship with the Lord.

So, before we start working on our “to-do” lists, however important they may be, will we take some time just to be with the Lord? Will we draw near to the Lord in prayer, allowing Him to teach us His will through His Word? If so, we’ll be even better prepared for whatever works He has already planned for us to do today. But if not, we shouldn’t be surprised if, at the end of the day, we find ourselves just as exhausted and exasperated as Martha seemed to be.

Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet.
40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”