I choose Mary
I want to ask you a question. How close are you to Jesus? Do you hear his very heartbeat? Do you know what comes next? Do you know that even in moments of despair God cries with you, yet in the next moment when joy comes, He will rejoice with you too? There is a woman in the Bible who has desperately caught my attention. She is the one that I believe knew the Lord so intimately that she saw things even before His disciples did. And I am not talking about his mother Mary either. I am talking about the Sister to Martha and Lazarus. I am talking about that Mary. I can say that the relationship she had with Jesus and the choices she made, I want to be more like her. I want to always choose what is better. I want to be humble and close to the heart of Jesus. In Luke 10:38-42 we are introduced to Mary and her sister Martha. I am not sure why she stands out to me so much but I am sure that it is because I am more like her than Martha. I want to clarify something first. I am not saying Jesus didn't love Martha or that Mary clearly was better. I am NOT saying any of that, I am merely making an observation about the life of Mary. When Jesus came to her house to eat and spend time with this family He had to do a little damage control. I can just see Martha, in the kitchen and then rushing out requiring Jesus to boss around her sister too and make Mary help her.
Martha came and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
Now at this point I can see Mary looking at Jesus and getting ready to get up to help her sister. As Mary moves, Jesus touches her and with His gentle smile on His face says, "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
WOW!!! For Jesus to tell Martha that, makes me look at my own life. When I am too "BUSY" to spend time with Jesus because of doing His work, what am I missing out on that He may want to say to me?
See Mary knew every word that came out of Jesus' mouth that day, because she sat with Him and listened to her Lord speak. Martha I believe missed out on something very important. I don't know what Jesus spoke that day other than what is recorded here in Luke, but I am sure it was more than this. I am sure that Jesus shared things and ministered to this family. Now lets go over to John 11. In John 11 we see that Jesus was in a town near Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. Martha sent word that Lazarus was sick and yet Jesus stayed, so that God would be the one glorified in the end. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany near their house Martha went out to meet him. Here is something that I noticed as I was preparing to share about this last week at youth. Martha came to Jesus and talked to Him like she would anyone. She believed in Jesus and she knew that He was God, I believed that she loved and trusted Him to do for her what she asked, but I think she missed something here that I notice Mary doesn't miss. When Martha approaches Jesus she talks to him, as if talking to a friend. There isn't anything wrong with that, but then when Mary comes to see Jesus she also approaches him yet she falls at His feet. She knew that He was God and yet there was a humility in Mary that was, what I believe, only achieved by spending time with Him. She threw herself at His mercy. Mary said the same thing to Jesus as Martha did. They both said, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died." That was the end of what Mary knew to say. She began to weep. But if you look at Martha's statement. She said the same thing and then followed is with a "BUT," I like that Martha was showing heart to Jesus and trying to reason with Him that she believed in who He was. See I think this is such an interesting story. I have been meditating on it for almost a week now, and even now as I write God reveals new things to me about this. I love that as Mary cried, Jesus was moved with compassion. He know what God was going to do and He knew that within the hour Lazarus would be walking around again. He knew that the sisters would be overjoyed and happy. Yet in that moment Jesus was overwhelmed with compassion and Jesus wept. There is only one other time that we see Jesus moved by this much emotion and that is in the Garden before He went to the cross. I am sure He was moved a lot but these are specific times that are recorded.
So then we go to the following chapter, Chapter 12 and this is where Mary, the same Mary, anoints Jesus' feet with expensive oil. The disciples can't understand what she is doing, and again I believe that because of Mary's intentional relationship with Jesus she didn't miss something that others missed. It says that the night she did this was the night before His triumphal entry. Again some of His disciples began to tease her and yet Jesus stands up for her and protects her. Jesus knew that Mary got it, even when the rest of them didn't, Mary knew what was coming. She may not have knew the intimate details but I believe that she knew Jesus was going to die soon. Jesus and Mary had a relationship that I believe that He desires with each of us. Mary had insight that I want to have. Mary knew the heart of Jesus like even His own disciples didn't understand. Mary saw things that I believe that Jesus showed and told her that others missed because they just assumed Jesus would always be there, which is true, just in a different form. I want to be like Mary. I want to be so close to Jesus that if other people miss His words, I don't. I want to know His very heart. I want to be aware of things to come in a way that others may miss. Lord, help us to be more like the example Mary is in these verses where she humbly comes and just chooses to know YOUR heart and put you first before anything else. We all know that working for you is good and at times it is required, but putting you first is more important and is the better thing to choose. Thank you Lord for you revelation about this, even if it is just for me. AMEN!!!!
Martha came and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
Now at this point I can see Mary looking at Jesus and getting ready to get up to help her sister. As Mary moves, Jesus touches her and with His gentle smile on His face says, "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
WOW!!! For Jesus to tell Martha that, makes me look at my own life. When I am too "BUSY" to spend time with Jesus because of doing His work, what am I missing out on that He may want to say to me?
See Mary knew every word that came out of Jesus' mouth that day, because she sat with Him and listened to her Lord speak. Martha I believe missed out on something very important. I don't know what Jesus spoke that day other than what is recorded here in Luke, but I am sure it was more than this. I am sure that Jesus shared things and ministered to this family. Now lets go over to John 11. In John 11 we see that Jesus was in a town near Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. Martha sent word that Lazarus was sick and yet Jesus stayed, so that God would be the one glorified in the end. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany near their house Martha went out to meet him. Here is something that I noticed as I was preparing to share about this last week at youth. Martha came to Jesus and talked to Him like she would anyone. She believed in Jesus and she knew that He was God, I believed that she loved and trusted Him to do for her what she asked, but I think she missed something here that I notice Mary doesn't miss. When Martha approaches Jesus she talks to him, as if talking to a friend. There isn't anything wrong with that, but then when Mary comes to see Jesus she also approaches him yet she falls at His feet. She knew that He was God and yet there was a humility in Mary that was, what I believe, only achieved by spending time with Him. She threw herself at His mercy. Mary said the same thing to Jesus as Martha did. They both said, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died." That was the end of what Mary knew to say. She began to weep. But if you look at Martha's statement. She said the same thing and then followed is with a "BUT," I like that Martha was showing heart to Jesus and trying to reason with Him that she believed in who He was. See I think this is such an interesting story. I have been meditating on it for almost a week now, and even now as I write God reveals new things to me about this. I love that as Mary cried, Jesus was moved with compassion. He know what God was going to do and He knew that within the hour Lazarus would be walking around again. He knew that the sisters would be overjoyed and happy. Yet in that moment Jesus was overwhelmed with compassion and Jesus wept. There is only one other time that we see Jesus moved by this much emotion and that is in the Garden before He went to the cross. I am sure He was moved a lot but these are specific times that are recorded.
So then we go to the following chapter, Chapter 12 and this is where Mary, the same Mary, anoints Jesus' feet with expensive oil. The disciples can't understand what she is doing, and again I believe that because of Mary's intentional relationship with Jesus she didn't miss something that others missed. It says that the night she did this was the night before His triumphal entry. Again some of His disciples began to tease her and yet Jesus stands up for her and protects her. Jesus knew that Mary got it, even when the rest of them didn't, Mary knew what was coming. She may not have knew the intimate details but I believe that she knew Jesus was going to die soon. Jesus and Mary had a relationship that I believe that He desires with each of us. Mary had insight that I want to have. Mary knew the heart of Jesus like even His own disciples didn't understand. Mary saw things that I believe that Jesus showed and told her that others missed because they just assumed Jesus would always be there, which is true, just in a different form. I want to be like Mary. I want to be so close to Jesus that if other people miss His words, I don't. I want to know His very heart. I want to be aware of things to come in a way that others may miss. Lord, help us to be more like the example Mary is in these verses where she humbly comes and just chooses to know YOUR heart and put you first before anything else. We all know that working for you is good and at times it is required, but putting you first is more important and is the better thing to choose. Thank you Lord for you revelation about this, even if it is just for me. AMEN!!!!
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