Too Busy Serving

Martha and Mary, two famous sisters in the Bible. Two different attitudes.

When Jesus came to visit, Martha got busy serving. Fixing a meal. Tidying things up.

Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet to listen to Him teach.

Martha finally got some upset with her sister that she spoke up.

"Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." (Luke 10:40).

Don't you just love it when someone talks about you in third person when you're standing right there?

Look at Martha's attitude. The first part of the verse says that she was "distracted with much serving." And Jesus' answer reveals more of her heart, "You are anxious and troubled about many things" (v 41).

It looks like Martha was trying to hide her heart by keeping busy. Keep doing lots of good things and no one will notice the struggles in my heart.

But just the opposite was true. Her activity revealed her heart. Perhaps she didn't want to be confronted with the truth that Jesus was speaking. Perhaps she didn't want to get cornered into making a decision. So she just kept busy in the kitchen.

And she wanted to make Mary out to be the bad guy. "She's making me do all the work! Command her to help me!"

But really she was again revealing her heart by talking about herself and her needs. It was all about her. It wasn't about Mary. It wasn't about Jesus. She was busy and she thought everyone else should be, too.

Don't we get the same way as Martha? Even guys can get themselves distracted with too much serving in order to avoid listening.

There are so many things to get done. Church activities. School activities. Family activities. And yeah, and besides that, I have to go to work every day to support my family.

Did you notice that Jesus didn't tell Martha to stop serving? He didn't say, "Just sit down here and listen. Take a break."

He revealed her heart by looking at her actions and words.

So why do you keep so busy? Are you hiding from God and His Word? Are you worried more about appearances than your relationship with Jesus?