One of my favorite scriptures is Luke 10:41-42 New International Version (NIV)
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
In my twisted sense of humor I always see Jesus saying, Martha, Martha, Martha! I imagine that he said it with the same exasperated tone of Jan Brady. Stick with me here. There is a point.
I love sermons. I am a preacher’s kid and I dearly loved my dad. I guess that is why. Some of my greatest ‘ah-ha moments’ were from sermons. I had one last night when I was listening to my pastor preach on the above ‘Martha’ scripture where Martha was busy in the kitchen and frustrated with Mary who was ditching the kitchen duty to talk with Jesus. My pastor said the point was not that we should do more, but that we should make better choices between the many good things in our lives because there is only 24 hours in a day and life is short. So my pastor asked us to think about the things that are most important and essential in our life, the most important of the good things. You see, in the story in Luke 10, Martha made a good choice but Mary made the RIGHT CHOICE! So much of managing this life is ditching the many good choices to make room for the right choice.
This made me think of the best choice I have ever made in my life. I chose to get up earlier every morning and spend a quiet time with God (and coffee😉). This one choice was a game changer yet I didn’t make that choice until I was in my mid 50’s. Before then, I spent time with God but at night or whenever it was convenient. My relationship with Christ was not a priority but an afterthought. The lack of priority reflected in all the good things I chose to do.
Why didn’t I to do this sooner in my life? I was a believer since I was 7 so I had certainly thought about this. But here was my thought pattern:
1. I’m not a morning person. I’m just better at night.
2. I’m not a fanatic Christian. That would scare people off of Christianity.
3. And on and on…
What was I doing? I was boxing myself and my relationship with Christ in with excuses. Like those boxes inside of boxes, I was boxing myself into an even smaller box with every excuse. I can imagine Jesus saying in the tone of Jan Brady, ‘Susan, Susan, Susan! Mary made the better choice and it will not be taken away from her. Come on out of all those boxes and let’s have a heart to heart conversation’.