Trenton Christian Impact Club Devotional

Luke 10:38–42 ESV

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

many things necessary

How many things in your life are absolutely necessary?  We tend to structure our lives in such a way that we cherish many things as utterly necessary.  Take Martha for example; she was welcoming Jesus into her home and she desired to serve him and his guests well.  She was flying around the house with a million things in her head that she knew needed to get done, and she was frustrated that her sister refused to help her.  All she could think about was the never-ending list and her mind was consumed with it.  After all, when you welcome someone into your house you need to make sure that they are comfortable, right?  When you are a student, you need to get straight A’s, right?  If you try out, you need to make the team, right?  If you want people to like you, you need to fit in with the right crowd, right? Failure to accomplish the list of things in your mind translates into you being a failure, doesn’t it?

but only one

Or does it?  Let’s take a step back for just a moment and look at our lives as Jesus looked at the lives of Mary and Martha.  Jesus views people in a way that is radically different from the way the world views people.  To most of the world, you have been given an identity.  You’re a student, an athlete, a child, a worker, a number; failing to perform well at what identifies you translates into you being a failure.  We buy the lie and fill our minds with anxiety when we can’t get the grades, can’t make the team, can’t get the boy or the girl, can’t seem to fit in, can’t live up to the expectations.  The world watches you hustle and stress with a watchful and judgmental eye, waiting for you to slip up so it can identify you as a failure and turn its back on you.  Jesus looks at you and doesn’t apply any identity to you except for one – a lost soul in need of a loving savior.  He looks at Mary, sitting down by his feet with no care in the world except for the words that come out of his lips, and he sees someone who has everything she will ever need.  The world requires much of us and pushes us to be perfect or be a failure, but all Jesus desires is for us to come and learn at his feet.

Jesus!

What has the world convinced you is necessary?  Maybe over the last couple of years it has been taken from you, or maybe circumstances outside of your control have caused you to fail at it. Maybe you’ve been searching for purpose over the last couple of years and its led you down a million paths while you seek an identity that leads you to success.  Listen to these words from Jesus and let them be medicine to your anxious soul, “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”  One thing.  Perhaps you’ve built up a lifetime of identities and successes or failures; yet still we are left with one thing.  You can build an empire for yourself or you can cause an empire to fall because of your mistakes, but at the end of your life only one question will be relevant: is Jesus Christ your all in all?  You see, Mary had chosen the good portion, the one thing in life that is truly necessary.  Say whatever else you want about Mary and about her life or her choices, but right now she is enjoying an eternal paradise at the side of God Himself.  Jesus is the one thing that we need, and Jesus is the one thing that the world can never take away from you.  Let go of whatever else the world wants from you, cling to Christ as he clings to you and know that if you have him, you have more than you could possibly imagine.

“And mine are keys to Zion city  Where beside the King I walk  For there my heart has found its treasure  Christ is mine forevermore”