Only One Thing
“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!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'”
— Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
Martha invited Jesus in, so the hosting was her idea in the first place. Receiving a teacher then meant hours of cooking and serving. Mary sat at His feet, which was the place of a student with a teacher. Nobody sends her away from it, not even when Martha asks for exactly that. Jesus did not tell Martha her work was wrong. He said that she was the one worried and upset about many things, when one was needed. That one thing is Himself, sitting in her house and speaking. Mary's good portion is that time with Him, and Jesus says nobody will take it from her. The scene stops there, and Luke never tells us what Martha did.
It happens that someone does a good thing and loses the reason they started. Martha cooked for Jesus and stopped hearing Him. It happens that a day goes entirely on obligations and not one conversation is left in it. When it comes again, the work may not need to stop, only the reason for it needs remembering.
One Thing for a Person, Not for the List
- 1Write today's list. Mark one item you are doing for a particular person rather than for the list.
- 2Do that one in a way that leaves room for a conversation.
Lord, I have a lot to do and I stop listening because of it. I do not want to work for people and lose them at the same time. Please stop me today at one conversation I will not put off until later. Help me remember why I am doing any of this.
I can work and still listen.
Is Jesus criticising Martha's work?
No. He names her worry, not her hospitality. She invited Him in, and He does not tell her to stop cooking.
Why does it matter that Mary sat at His feet?
That was the posture of a student with a teacher. Jesus does not tell her to get up, even when Martha asks Him to.
What is the one thing that is needed?
The text does not spell it out. In context it is Jesus Himself, present in the room and being listened to.