When a Person Prioritize the Word of God

I find the week following Christmas to be an important one. Our hearts are often full following the holiday season and we anticipate a coming new year. The reality is that tomorrow will be the same as today is. Yet, it provides an opportunity for a blank slate of sort where we can make a change in our lives for the better.

This morning I want to issue a challenge to each of you as individuals as well as our entire church body.

Read Luke 10:38-42

The sole focus of this passage of scripture lies in verse 42 when Jesus addresses Martha and her concern with Mary’s involvement in helping to prepare a meal and serve Jesus. He says that “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” In order to understand anything about these verses, we have to know that the good portion that is being referenced here is her desire for the teachings of Jesus. We should not be upset with Martha for her service to the Lord but Jesus clearly is pointing out to her that she has prioritized God’s word.

So, what happens when we prioritize the word of God? First,

We become humble

Just in the posture that Mary has, she is placing herself below Jesus at His feet. This was common for people to do before a teacher. But Jesus is more than a teacher. When we keep in mind that He is the only Son of God, we place all things before Him. After all, He gave His life so that we might live.

It takes a certain humility to sit under another person’s teaching. To do this is to admit that they know more than you do or at least know some things that you do not. It is through humility that we are able to admit that we don’t always have it all figured out. Isn’t this why we continue to open up the bible. If you want to be humbled, just try reading through the bible and there will be things that you never realized were there.

Because Mary prioritized the teaching of Jesus, she is both actively exhibiting humility as well as becoming more humble. We can also see that when we prioritize the word of God,

We will be attentive to His teaching

This may be obvious based on the text that Mary was hanging on every word of Jesus. She was locked in. But what I want to point out to you is that because she prioritized God’s Word that she was listening to His words. This is not the only interaction that these two sisters have with Jesus. Most scholars agree that this is the same Mary and Martha who were sisters of Lazarus. They were friends, yet any time Jesus opened His mouth, it is clear that Mary wanted to stop what was going on in order to hear Him.

It is my hope that the people of this church would be the same way; that we would desire to fill our minds and hearts with the teachings of God. It certainly doesn’t just come from preaching like you are hearing today, but there are a variety of ways that we can take in good biblical information. Sure, it is one of the reasons why I think that attending church often is a good thing, beyond the bible commanding it and the benefits of community. But when wisdom from the bible becomes a priority, we are going to jump at every opportunity to take it in, especially when the world is so lacking in divine wisdom.

Imagine with me if the only time you were provided with food was when you either heard preaching or were reading the bible for yourself. Would that change how often we were in church, reading our bible, listening to sermons? Listen to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and as you do, ask yourself, “Do I believe this?” “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Do you believe that? If so, does your life reflect the fact that you believe that scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness? Be attentive to the word at every opportunity.

Next we can see that when we prioritize the word of God,

We have the correct motivation for works

At this point I want to turn our attention to Martha for a moment. Was there anything wrong with Martha’s bustling about and working hard by itself? No. Absolutely not. But we are told in verse 40 that she was distracted by it.

We are in a smallish church where many of you wear many hats. How often do we get distracted from the word because of our various duties? What was wrong with Martha’s service was not the service by itself but the motivation by it. She was just doing it because that was what she assumed would be expected of her when it comes to hosting Jesus.

I’m afraid that our service has gotten that way at points here in our church. We do all of the different duties that we’ve either been assigned or have been asked to do but manage to forget why we’re here in the first place. We get distracted by our service. And that statement by itself seems wild but I’ve seen it in my own life. I get so consumed by making sure that everything goes well in our services that I am distracted from the actual worship. There are so many examples of this but when we prioritize God’s word, making sure that it is at the top of priority list, we are then able to have the correct motivation to serve. We do it because we love the Lord not because we are obligated to do it or because we will receive praise for doing it. We go from asking Jesus to reprimand Mary for her lack of help to applauding her for her dedication to the teaching of God’s word. Thankfully, this has a byproduct.

We will then have a relief of religious anxiety

The beginning of Jesus’ response was more of pity rather than anger or frustration. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things…” I believe that she has a real anxiety about having Jesus in her home and she wanted to badly for everything to be perfect. Make sure not to burn the food. Is the bathroom clean.

Her wrong motivation caused this anxiety. If we look inward on this idea, why do we come to church? Is it because you’re just checking a box? Are you just here to please someone? By the way, I don’t know what the is reason nor do I care much about the reason, I’m just glad you’re here. But what happens is when we do religious things for the wrong reason, we manage to tie our overall morality or salvation to it.

Since I’ve already used it as an example, let’s just take church attendance for example? Does a person receive salvation because they go to church 50 times out of the year? Or never miss a single Sunday School lesson? No. That’s not how it works. Now, we should want to be in church often because we love the Lord and desire to be with His people but this is not what saves someone. IF we think that it is what saves someone, then when we miss, there begins to be this creeping worry about losing that salvation. Instead, we miss it and do everything in our power to be there the next time.

The same thing can be said for the accountability that is provided. When we understand that church is something we ought to want to do rather than we must do, when we chekc up on someone, it will be phrased as, “Hey, really missed you yesterday. Everything okay?’ rather than, “Excuse me, what could have been going on that was more important than church?”

And this changes when we prioritize the word of God. Finally, the last thing that happens when we prioritize God’s word that we see in this passage is that

It sticks with us

Now, I want to be clear in saying that “will not be taken away from her” does not mean that Mary was going to have all of the things that Jesus said on that day memorized. Instead, It should be clear that the impact Jesus had with His words had a lasting impact on her. It stuck with her.

The same can be said for you and me. When we immerse ourselves with daily reading of God’s word, we will be forever impacted. It will change the way that we look at the world. It will change the way that we treat our family. It will alter how we work in a profound way. And if you’re here today and have never spent much time reading the Bible, I want to encourage you to give it a month. Try reading a bit every day. I believe that if you do, it will change your life forever. You’ll come to know Jesus as He is described in the bible. You’ll learn that He came to die so that your sins might be forgiven. Maybe you’ve not done well in reading lately. First off, that’s okay. Second, may you be reminded of the beauty of the gospel. That there is an all-powerful God who desires to be worshiped by you.

This points to one final thing that happens when we prioritize the word of God that comes as a result of this passage.

Our lives and the lives of those around us are changed!

After this interaction, we know that Lazarus dies in John 11. Listen to this interaction between Jesus and Martha.

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

What a powerful statement from Martha after Jesus previously told her to get her priorities in order! This confession is the same that Peter makes Matthew 16 and is what Jesus says He will build His church upon. When we prioritize the Word of God, God, through the Holy Spirit, reveals to us that His Son is the Savior of the world!

As we enter into a new calendar year, may we prioritize the word of God together! May we read it more this year than ever before. May we desire to memorize it. And may the lives of those around us be change and God be glorified because of it!