“And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”
Luke 10:41 NKJV
How many of us stay busy because we believe it means we are doing the Lord’s work? I can raise my hand, guilty as charged. Luke 10 is about two sisters, Martha and Mary. The two women learned that Jesus was going to visit their home. This immediately set an expectation that they had to ready the house, at least that is what Martha thought. On the other hand, Mary thought – what an opportunity. When he arrived, she perched herself at Jesus’ foot breathing in His every word, loving the feeling of his presence. Depending upon where we are in life, we will become a Martha or Mary. But, the Lord is not asking us to prepare things for or around him. The Lord does not want us to worry, or fret over the issues that surround us. He wants us to still ourselves, feel his love, and spend time in His Holy Presence.
Like Martha we become distracted. We lose sight of the purpose, our dependence upon the Lord, and our desire to listen to Him, learn the practicality of the Word and then share the Good News. But, we are not wholly Martha, we also embrace the wonderment of Mary, waiting to serve, listen and learn.
We are told in John 15, the Lord is the true vine and God is the vinedresser. The vine cannot bear fruit by itself. In other words, we cannot bear fruit by ourselves. Without sitting at the Lords’ feet, we will wither. We need to be still and listen, and not become distracted by the things around us. The scripture reads, “He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The Holy Spirit must dwell in us. It is His blood that flows through our veins, our heart, and our soul. The scripture further shares, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. Mary scurried about during the visit reading the house, preparing a meal, and doing all of the ceremonial things. Her sister Mary wanted more of Jesus. She wanted to breathe Him in, be a student of his Word and spend as much time as possible with Him; food was not important, a clean home was not important, spending time at the foot of our Lord was all that mattered. She knew she would be stronger for it, that sharing her story about what she learned that day with others would bear fruit.
When we feel the urge to become busy rather than sit still, it is more than a tick, it is a red alert.
Mary and Martha clearly loved Christ; we can gain more from this story, we can look at this in the scope of Spiritual Warfare. When we feel the Mary-Martha tug, we should acknowledge that it is often the devil trying to distract us and delay us from spending time with the Lord. His purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to kill our relationship with the Lord, steal our time with the Lord and destroy our hope to reach heaven.
Like so many, I try to stay alert. I know spending time with the Lord every day is imperative, yet there are times when I become enveloped in the stuff around me. But as the scripture says, only one thing is needed, not the fluff and circumstance, only one thing, to spend quality time with the Lord.
In the end, we must ask ourselves when we are falling into oblivion, who do we belong to, where do we reside? Do we respond to Jesus’ invitation like Martha or like Mary? Will we wither or bear fruit?
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References/Resources – Finding Rest In a Busy World Devotional, Bible.com. Study – http://www.susannarjala.com
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Add all those who are suffering from emotional and chronic illnesses to your daily prayers. We are all God’s children and members of one family.
God does not discriminate, nor should we. If He discriminated, the Gentiles would not have been adopted into the family, and we would not be given the opportunity to be part of the Christian Faith through adoption. 
The scripture continues and teaches us how to pray. It informs us to pray through the Holy Spirit. Praying gives the Holy Spirit the ability to guide our prayers to accomplish the fullness of their intent. The Holy Spirit directs our petitions. The only effective way to pray is in the Spirit. Some believe we must pray in tongues; others believe that it ended when they crucified Christ, ending the Old Testament dispensation. Regardless, for those who pray in tongues, praying in the Holy Spirit bypasses Satan’s listening ears. For those who do not, pray for the intervention of the Holy Spirit in praying to God, the Father. There is an expression that indicates our intent, ‘Prayers go up, and blessings come down.’
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 