Sitting but Distracted

The story of Martha and Mary is perhaps a familiar one, but it’s only in the New King James Version of the Bible that we find the following translation: ‘And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.’

It’s frequently taught that Mary put her relationship with Jesus first while Martha was the worker, the anxious one, the sister with misplaced priorities; the one that was chastised by Jesus.

But I don’t believe that’s the issue. The issue is that even though she spent time with Jesus, welcoming Him warmly into her home, she was too distracted to benefit from the event. She was too distracted to be at peace and enjoy the time with Jesus in her home. In other words she was too worried and pulled away by something else. She was too anxious; too occupied or busy.

When she did finally approach Jesus, it was with a complaint, full of resentment and bitterness. Expressing her emotions of bitterness, anger and frustration to Jesus wasn’t the problem, however.

I believe that the problem for Martha was that she had never learned to look into the face of Jesus’ and receive His love as He looked at her - that look of approval or pleasure. She missed His comfort. She lost the joy of the event. Perhaps she was locked into memories of the past or concerns about the future. Whatever it was, she had lost the enjoyment of the present moment.

If we could have known the full story I’m sure we would have seen that when Jesus spoke the words 'Martha, Martha', he did so with loving eyes.

Question: Is there anything distracting me - pulling me away from the comfort, peace, and direction that come from sitting 'at the feet of Jesus'? Has my serving Jesus got in the way of my being with Jesus?

Prayer: Jesus, today I choose to let You look at me and raise my head to look into Your eyes. Today I choose to let go of the distractions and just be with You.