Becoming Mary

Last week I spent some time thinking about the busy, busy life I live. Admittedly, I am my own task master.

One morning, while reading from the Bible, I came across the story of Mary and Martha. They were close friends with Jesus. These two women were about as different as night and day.

As Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, soaking in His words, Martha was a busy bee, getting everything done around the house.

When Martha complained to Jesus that she was doing everything and Mary was doing nothing, Jesus gently rebuked her.

 "...Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Now I come from a family that believes there is little, if anything, more important than hard work. And in one sense I think it's true. But I don't think Jesus is talking about hard work vs. being lazy. I think He is telling Martha that in her worried and frazzled, busy life, always getting everything done, she is neglecting to take time to learn from Him. Time to sit at His eternal, omnipotent feet.

While we should never use the Lord as an excuse to shirk our duties, we must also never use our duties to shirk our need to sit at the feet of our God.

I began to wonder if I were more often like Mary or more often like Martha. I think I would have to say Martha. Ouch. Am I, too, jealous of those who sit at the feet of our Savior as if they haven't a care in the world? I hope not. But I do, at times, feel drained from the load of my schedule.

In further contemplation, I realized that a busy schedule is not necessarily the problem. The robber of time with God is unnecessary busy work.

We are a culture of busy work. I'm afraid a lot of it can go into the category of unnecessary. Sigh. Why do we feel the need to fill every nook and cranny with activity? I surmise that busyness is the enemy of peace. Not necessary busyness, but unnecessary busyness.

Why sit at the feet of Jesus, anyway? What is to be gained by that? Well, if I (a follower of Jesus) am to be like Him, don't I need to learn from Him?

And why do I need to be more like Jesus, anyway? Because I live in a world full of Marthas. I live in a world full of unnecessary busyness. A world lacking peace. A world lacking love. A world lacking people who are willing to set it all aside to be more like Jesus.

And isn't Jesus who we all really need?

So, today I will say this prayer: "Lord, make me more like Mary where you are concerned and more like you where the people around me are concerned."