Jesus Is Better
Jesus is better.
Such a simple statement. But how many times during the day do I choose something other than Him?
The account of Mary and Martha is one that I honestly struggled to fully understand growing up.
You've got Martha: Welcoming, hard-working. Your typical good, Christian, southern woman. She welcomes Jesus into her home and immediately starts making preparations for His visit. Today, it would look like putting on a pot of coffee, cooking up a big meal, etc.
And you've got Mary: Sister to Martha. Sits at Jesus' feet. In Martha's perspective, a lazy bum.
While the value of listening to Jesus was always pointed out to me in Sunday school, for some reason, I could really relate to Martha. She just wanted to take care of Jesus. She wanted the house to be clean and have food to offer Him. She wanted to welcome her guest.
However, when I recently re-read this story, the simple, profound thought of "Jesus is better" struck me like it never has before. I was reading the NIV version of Luke 10, which says in verses 41 & 42,
Now that I think about it more, I can totally see His point. Mary wasn't just sitting around being lazy, she was listening to Jesus. If Jesus were to swing by my home for a visit, I wouldn't want to miss a single word He said. Whatever He had to say would be of the utmost importance.
I like to think that Martha was the older sister. For example, check out her spiel in verse 40, where she whines, "'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?' Tell her to help me!'" I regrettably admit that, as a big sister, I have used the same general tone as Martha a few times. In the very same rant, Martha calls Jesus "Lord" and then demands that He tell Mary to help out. Talk. About. Tense. Can you imagine listening to someone try to boss Jesus around? Awkward.
Then again, I think we tend to do that plenty in our own lives. We demand certain things of Jesus, or expect Him to take care of certain things as we think He should. It's like we expect Him to show up at certain times, in certain ways, on our terms. But that's not how it works. Why? Because His ways are higher. His ways are better [Isaiah 55:8-9]. Instead of simply spending time with Him, listening to Him, we get distracted by other things of less importance. The first part of verse 40 talks about how Martha "was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Distracted. Choosing something other than Jesus.
How does Jesus respond? To me it sounds loving, tender. A gentle correction to a precious daughter. "Martha, Martha."
"You are worried and upset about many things." Yep. Typical big sister crazy mode.
"Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." No, I will not tell Mary to join you. She has chosen what is better.
I can only imagine the verbal slap in the face Martha felt at that moment. Mary had chosen better. Sure, Martha was distracted by good things. But she was still distracted. Even though they weren't bad things, they weren't Jesus.
I want to choose Jesus over everything else. I don't want to miss a single word He wants to tell me.
Because I know that Jesus is better.
Such a simple statement. But how many times during the day do I choose something other than Him?
The account of Mary and Martha is one that I honestly struggled to fully understand growing up.
You've got Martha: Welcoming, hard-working. Your typical good, Christian, southern woman. She welcomes Jesus into her home and immediately starts making preparations for His visit. Today, it would look like putting on a pot of coffee, cooking up a big meal, etc.
And you've got Mary: Sister to Martha. Sits at Jesus' feet. In Martha's perspective, a lazy bum.
While the value of listening to Jesus was always pointed out to me in Sunday school, for some reason, I could really relate to Martha. She just wanted to take care of Jesus. She wanted the house to be clean and have food to offer Him. She wanted to welcome her guest.
However, when I recently re-read this story, the simple, profound thought of "Jesus is better" struck me like it never has before. I was reading the NIV version of Luke 10, which says in verses 41 & 42,
"'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.'"What is this "better" that is referred to? Jesus. Mary chose Jesus. She didn't choose the kitchen; she chose Jesus. She chose to sit at His feet, listening to what He said.
Now that I think about it more, I can totally see His point. Mary wasn't just sitting around being lazy, she was listening to Jesus. If Jesus were to swing by my home for a visit, I wouldn't want to miss a single word He said. Whatever He had to say would be of the utmost importance.
I like to think that Martha was the older sister. For example, check out her spiel in verse 40, where she whines, "'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?' Tell her to help me!'" I regrettably admit that, as a big sister, I have used the same general tone as Martha a few times. In the very same rant, Martha calls Jesus "Lord" and then demands that He tell Mary to help out. Talk. About. Tense. Can you imagine listening to someone try to boss Jesus around? Awkward.
Then again, I think we tend to do that plenty in our own lives. We demand certain things of Jesus, or expect Him to take care of certain things as we think He should. It's like we expect Him to show up at certain times, in certain ways, on our terms. But that's not how it works. Why? Because His ways are higher. His ways are better [Isaiah 55:8-9]. Instead of simply spending time with Him, listening to Him, we get distracted by other things of less importance. The first part of verse 40 talks about how Martha "was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Distracted. Choosing something other than Jesus.
How does Jesus respond? To me it sounds loving, tender. A gentle correction to a precious daughter. "Martha, Martha."
"You are worried and upset about many things." Yep. Typical big sister crazy mode.
"Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." No, I will not tell Mary to join you. She has chosen what is better.
I can only imagine the verbal slap in the face Martha felt at that moment. Mary had chosen better. Sure, Martha was distracted by good things. But she was still distracted. Even though they weren't bad things, they weren't Jesus.
I want to choose Jesus over everything else. I don't want to miss a single word He wants to tell me.
Because I know that Jesus is better.
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