Distracted by service?

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)

I tend to be a little like Martha sometimes - not in her hospitality and certainly not in her concern for housekeeping and cooking - but in her distraction from what was really important. The first time God ever pierced my heart with this verse was a day I'll never forget. I was one of those Christians that just loved "working" for the Lord. I just couldn't say no to the church. My head only shook up and down; it would not shake from side to side! I always said yes.

My reasoning was that if I served God more I'd grow closer to Him in the process. But after about 15 years of that process I found that I hadn't grown any closer to God. I'd just grown TIRED of ministry. That's when God shined a light on this verse about Martha. Like her, I had become distracted by serving. I had neglected what was really important in my relationship with Jesus to do what I thought He wanted. But like Martha, I was mistaken about what He really wanted from me.

Mary was the sister who understood what He wanted. In fact, Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the "only thing needed." What was Mary's choice? It was to sit at His feet. When I read those verses I suddenly realized that my "serving" was keeping me from my "sitting"!

Yes, God will always use His children in ministry, but His call is not to ministry. It's to a relationship with Him. And if we neglect the relationship for the sake of ministry we've missed the point. God has shown me that over and over! But when we prioritize the relationship we'll be amazed at how God uses us in ministry! And as we sit as His feet, we come to understand that He will be working "through" us instead of us working "for" Him. Therefore, we won't get weary and troubled in doing ministry as Martha did!