Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – I am more important to God, my presence with Him, than anything I do.
Luke 10:41-42 TPT
[41] The Lord answered her, “Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? [42] Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.”
Observation
Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha. Martha does all the work while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet. Martha gets frustrated and asks Jesus – “Lord, don’t you think it’s unfair that my sister left me to do all the work by myself? You should tell her to get up and help me.”
Jesus’ response is critical for us to hear. What is the most important? The work of serving Jesus must always flow from my sitting at His feet. The deception of religious obedience that serves from motives of ‘must’, will always complain about the lack of efforts of others. There is no joy in theIr serving for its motivation is not from a personal encounter. The life of a follower of Jesus is lived in the intimacy of his presence and then finds expressions in service because of the beauty, boldness, and love released from the encounter. If you don’t have time to sit then don’t stand up and start serving, it will only turn ugly for you and others.
It is clear that a follower of Jesus is a servant, Jesus modeled it and calls us to it. But it is only when we allow Him to wash our feet are we ready to wash the feet of others. It is easy for me to lose the importance of His presence when I respond to the scream, and often distractions, of service. Jesus told us that the poor, those in need, will be with us always, there is a never-ending call, or can I say demand, to serve. But we must at all costs keep our posture and rhythm of presence if we are to serve in the way Jesus intends us to.
God does not offer the reward of His presence to those that serve others, rather His presence enables me to see the reward in serving. I must never serve to earn an audience, there are no transactions in Heaven, it’s all freely given, including His presence. We must not be distracted from what is the most important thing, my intimate uninterrupted presence and relationship with Him.
Application
If I hear myself doing a Martha, I will know that I have lost the rhythm that sustains service. I will live from His feet to his people, I will never get this confused or disrupted by the demands of serving. I will keep the most important thing the most important thing.
Response
Thank you that you call me foremost and firstly to yourself. Thank you for the beautiful life of serving others that is enabled by being with you. Thank you that serving is not a demand in order to get to you, but an overflow from being with you. Thank you that I am the most important thing to you, not what I do, but being with you. The beauty and freedom of living free from demands of service and yet empowered for service are striking. Thank you, I am blessed.
Meditation
Do you have moments of Martha?
How would you describe your rhythm of presence with Jesus, of sitting at his feet?
Is the most important thing the most important thing in your life?
JOURNEY DEEPER
