What is Better

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 only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."  Luke 10:38-42

I'll have to admit, sometimes I struggle so much with busyness that I tend to forget just being with God is far more important.  Don't get me wrong, we have work that is important and needs to be done which takes a tremendous amount of time.  However, our work is far inferior to the fact that we were created for relationship.  Sometimes it's far more important to sit than do. 

You see when we sit with Him we fill our deepest need in creation.  The need for relationship.  The need for longing to be significant.  The need for purpose in our life.  But so much of the time we've come to believe that our work can somehow replace our time with God and we fall prey to the temptation of the lie.  It's easy to mess this up over and over.  I'm there too.

Mary understood this and Martha missed the point.  The dishes could be washed later, the clothes could be folded after, and the floors could be mopped as soon as Jesus, the Lord, left.  But somewhere, somehow, Martha thought her job as a host was more important than her relationship with her guest.  The sad reality of the matter is, when we do this, we drag others down with us.  Most of the time our motives are good, but the truth is plain as day, we become more of a hindrance than a help.

Where are you?  Are you trying to fill a void in your life by doing something?  Or are you willing to fill the void in your life by being something?  Just sit, be quiet and listen.  I'm sure He has something to teach you.