by Marty Donnellan, © 2010
Read Luke 10:38-42. “Mary… sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” (NIV)
I used to enjoy freshwater scuba diving in the cave springs of northern Florida. I enjoyed it even though cave diving can be a dangerous sport and fatalities are not unheard of. These fatalities are sometimes the result of silt outs. A silt out occurs when a diver’s swim fins disturb the silt causing visibility to be, in the words of Wikipedia, “rapidly reduced to zero”. A diver in this situation can be inches away from a life-saving exit and never know it.
Martha of Bethany had never been cave diving, but she did know something about spiritual silt outs. As she prepared dinner for Jesus, she let herself become so frazzled that she forgot her manners and her place. She rebuked her sister in front of an honored guest. She gave her Lord and Master an order. She even accused Him of not caring about her!
Poor Martha! Hers was one of those days which begin with the best of intentions but in which visibility is “rapidly reduced to zero”. Jesus observed that Martha’s real problem had nothing to do with Mary, but with the fact that Martha had lost sight of Him. According to Jesus, it was Mary, not Martha, who had the right idea about what to do when He was around.
Later on, after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, another big dinner was given in His honor (John 12:1-3). Once again Martha served the food. Since that other dinner, her faith had deepened. This time she was not angry or upset as she bustled about – even when she noticed where Mary was!
Prayer: Dear Lord, may we be Mary’s first and Martha’s second.
This devotional is just incredible! I’m wondering, Marty, if you currently have a book full of daily devotionals for sale. I simply love them and know that they would make terrific presents to some of my older students and fellow ministers. If not, then I think you should get a book together as soon as possible! You’re terrific!