Being Worried About Things
I got quite a few things to think about when my Sunday School teacher presented the lesson this morning. The story centered around discipleship and used the incident with Mary, Martha, and Jesus in the book of Luke. When Jesus came into Bethany, he was met by Martha who welcomed Him into her home. We know the story, Mary the sister was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to everything Jesus said with intensity. Martha was trying to get things together for some 70 persons who were part of the group that was with Jesus at this time. The thing that keyed my interest was something that Jesus said to Martha.
Luke 10:41 (NASB)
[41] But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
Are you so busy doing things for Jesus that you that you are not spending any time with Jesus? [Life Application Bible] I am starting to realize that this was the trap that I found myself in with teaching. You really need to give time to cultivating your relationship with the Lord.
Our greek word for worried here is marimnao which means "to be anxious about, to have a distracting care." Given the meaning here, we can deduce that Martha was very distracted about quite a few things, not just what was going to be done about feeding all of these people. The passage indicates that she had her mind on putting things together and listening to what Jesus was saying at the same time. No one is really good at muti-tasking. Women are a little better at coming closer to it than men, but you really can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Martha was divided, no doubt about it.
Our greek word for bothered here is thorubeo which means "to make an uproar, to throw into confusion, or to wail tumultuously." Martha was both torn between two things she was trying to do and as a result was really pressed down by the situation. She apparently was doing quite a lot in preparation to get something to the Lord which was "special". Jesus indicated that:
Luke 10:42 (NASB)
[42] but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Martha didn't go for what was important, spending time with the Lord. She was concentrating on doing something special, in her mind she needed to do a lot. In the Lord's way of looking at things, some simple dishes of food would have been enough, allowing Martha to join her sister at the feet of Jesus. We sometimes forget that God does not need us, we need him. It is always better to cultivate a deep relationship with Him than to try and impress Him with something that we have done. Remember, Jesus said that the yoke, or the burden placed upon us, is easy:
Matthew 11:30 (NASB)
[30] “For My yoke is *easy and My burden is light.”
Luke 10:41 (NASB)
[41] But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
Are you so busy doing things for Jesus that you that you are not spending any time with Jesus? [Life Application Bible] I am starting to realize that this was the trap that I found myself in with teaching. You really need to give time to cultivating your relationship with the Lord.
Our greek word for worried here is marimnao which means "to be anxious about, to have a distracting care." Given the meaning here, we can deduce that Martha was very distracted about quite a few things, not just what was going to be done about feeding all of these people. The passage indicates that she had her mind on putting things together and listening to what Jesus was saying at the same time. No one is really good at muti-tasking. Women are a little better at coming closer to it than men, but you really can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Martha was divided, no doubt about it.
Our greek word for bothered here is thorubeo which means "to make an uproar, to throw into confusion, or to wail tumultuously." Martha was both torn between two things she was trying to do and as a result was really pressed down by the situation. She apparently was doing quite a lot in preparation to get something to the Lord which was "special". Jesus indicated that:
Luke 10:42 (NASB)
[42] but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Martha didn't go for what was important, spending time with the Lord. She was concentrating on doing something special, in her mind she needed to do a lot. In the Lord's way of looking at things, some simple dishes of food would have been enough, allowing Martha to join her sister at the feet of Jesus. We sometimes forget that God does not need us, we need him. It is always better to cultivate a deep relationship with Him than to try and impress Him with something that we have done. Remember, Jesus said that the yoke, or the burden placed upon us, is easy:
Matthew 11:30 (NASB)
[30] “For My yoke is *easy and My burden is light.”