Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 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!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
We have talked a lot in these blogs about getting saved. In review, that just means recognizing that you are sinful and separated both now and eternally from the God who created you to have a relationship with Him because He is perfect and can't be in the presence of sin. Since we can do nothing on our own to remedy this problem, God took the initiative and sent His son to Earth to take away our sins by dying on the cross for them and rising from the dead. If we by faith believe and receive this forgiveness, He forgives us and puts His spirit inside us to make us new Children of His. That is basically what salvation is but I just summarized 66 books of the Bible so we could spend a lifetime mining the riches of what salvation is.
In this chapter salvation could be compared to inviting Jesus into your house to live. Certainly, growing up, I have seen pictures of Jesus knocking at a door asking permission to enter which was taken from Rev. 3:20, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Then I heard many messages especially at youth retreats on giving Him access to all the rooms in your house - your library, your entertainment room, your bedroom, your computer room, the room where you keep your valuables like your deeds, money, checkbook, credit cards, etc. The point was and still is, when Jesus comes in, He comes in to take over. That's what it means when we receive Him as Lord or master, it is no longer your house but His. That seems kind of scary and creepy of Him to do that, until you realize, number one it was His to begin with anyway , number two He can manage your life so much better than you can, and number three He wants to make your life the best it can be - He has your best interests in mind.
One thing all those messages that I heard as a youth missed, though, is what Jesus calls in this passage "the one thing". Rev.3:20 says that He comes in to "eat with us." Martha, though she didn't have the book of Revelation, took this literally and all the time Jesus was there, though she gave Him access to her house, she spent in the kitchen cooking for Jesus. She was busy serving Him yet missed out on hanging out with Him. That's why He comes into our house, not to take over - though He does, but to hang out with us. He comes to talk to you, listen to you, laugh with you, cry with you, teach you - mainly to BE with you.
I've shared my testimony on this blog before http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-testimony-at-first-baptist.html and I've shared the verse Hosea 2:16 which was so integral in my understanding and growth. "...in that day you will no longer call Me 'my master' but you will call Me 'my husband'. What that to me is saying is that there comes a time in your sanctification (growth) process where first of all you realize Jesus didn't just save you to avoid Hell and go to Heaven - though that is true, but He came to be your Lord, your Master. That is a significant, necessary and vital realization - but wait, there's more - something "better". Jesus saved us to be our husband, the love of our life. That's what Martha was missing and though she was doing great things she was missing out on what was "better" and Jesus would say "the one thing" - the whole point of salvation from which the worship, works, and even Heaven flows - being with Him.
Lord, draw me closer to You. Let me revel in Your presence. Let me soak You in, today. Amen.
We have talked a lot in these blogs about getting saved. In review, that just means recognizing that you are sinful and separated both now and eternally from the God who created you to have a relationship with Him because He is perfect and can't be in the presence of sin. Since we can do nothing on our own to remedy this problem, God took the initiative and sent His son to Earth to take away our sins by dying on the cross for them and rising from the dead. If we by faith believe and receive this forgiveness, He forgives us and puts His spirit inside us to make us new Children of His. That is basically what salvation is but I just summarized 66 books of the Bible so we could spend a lifetime mining the riches of what salvation is.
In this chapter salvation could be compared to inviting Jesus into your house to live. Certainly, growing up, I have seen pictures of Jesus knocking at a door asking permission to enter which was taken from Rev. 3:20, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Then I heard many messages especially at youth retreats on giving Him access to all the rooms in your house - your library, your entertainment room, your bedroom, your computer room, the room where you keep your valuables like your deeds, money, checkbook, credit cards, etc. The point was and still is, when Jesus comes in, He comes in to take over. That's what it means when we receive Him as Lord or master, it is no longer your house but His. That seems kind of scary and creepy of Him to do that, until you realize, number one it was His to begin with anyway , number two He can manage your life so much better than you can, and number three He wants to make your life the best it can be - He has your best interests in mind.
One thing all those messages that I heard as a youth missed, though, is what Jesus calls in this passage "the one thing". Rev.3:20 says that He comes in to "eat with us." Martha, though she didn't have the book of Revelation, took this literally and all the time Jesus was there, though she gave Him access to her house, she spent in the kitchen cooking for Jesus. She was busy serving Him yet missed out on hanging out with Him. That's why He comes into our house, not to take over - though He does, but to hang out with us. He comes to talk to you, listen to you, laugh with you, cry with you, teach you - mainly to BE with you.
I've shared my testimony on this blog before http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-testimony-at-first-baptist.html and I've shared the verse Hosea 2:16 which was so integral in my understanding and growth. "...in that day you will no longer call Me 'my master' but you will call Me 'my husband'. What that to me is saying is that there comes a time in your sanctification (growth) process where first of all you realize Jesus didn't just save you to avoid Hell and go to Heaven - though that is true, but He came to be your Lord, your Master. That is a significant, necessary and vital realization - but wait, there's more - something "better". Jesus saved us to be our husband, the love of our life. That's what Martha was missing and though she was doing great things she was missing out on what was "better" and Jesus would say "the one thing" - the whole point of salvation from which the worship, works, and even Heaven flows - being with Him.
Lord, draw me closer to You. Let me revel in Your presence. Let me soak You in, today. Amen.
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