Choose

 February 25, 2024

Quite often, I expect God to speak to me as I am reading my Bible and praying, but it’s not uncommon for me get to the end of my “devotional time,” close my Bible and think to myself, “Well, I didn’t get much out of THAT!” 

But then there are those times when God speaks almost out of the blue, like this morning in Sunday School. We were talking about how easily we worry about the future which we cannot control, and how that worry so occupies our minds and hearts that we miss God’s work of grace in the present moment. At the end of our time together, pastor Roy quoted from Luke 10, the story of Mary and Martha:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” —Luke 10:38-42 

I can’t remember Roy’s comment on these verses, but I recall vividly Jesus’ word to Martha about her sister: “Mary has CHOSEN…” So often, we deceive ourselves into thinking that our worry and anxiety are afflictions over which we have little control. Our culture is overwhelmed with anxiety; we swallow pills by the handfuls, trying to medicate away our dis-ease, and pay psychologists and counselors big bucks trying to find some relief from the stress of everyday life.

We fail to see what Mary seemed to have understood intuitively, that sitting at the feet of Jesus is the best antidote to stress, but that one must choose to do so, prioritizing his presence over the pressing issues of life. Too often, I find that I choose poorly, putting time with Jesus on the back burner of life. When I do that, stress intensifies. Time with him puts things in perspective, reducing my worry and increasing my peace. But I have to choose.