“LORD, DOST THOU NOT CARE?”

Persis S. GilgalL

In the town of Bethany, there lived three people, a man by the name Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. The Bible does not mention anything about their parents, so I assume that their parents were no more. But they had a really good friend who used to often visit them whenever He came to Bethany. Yes, it was none other than Jesus Christ himself. Now Luke 10:38-42 tells us something about Mary and Martha.

Martha, the older of the two sisters invited Jesus to their house (v 38). But, inspite of her welcoming Him, we find her busy engaged with other things to do, probably preparing food for her friend. As Jesus was their friend, He knew how hard the family had to work to make both ends meet. But Mary, her younger sister was busy listening to Jesus. She was really interested in what Jesus was talking about, although we haven’t the slightest hint what the topic was. This is why probably she forgot to even help her sister with the serving. But when Martha saw this, she was angry with Mary and interrupted Jesus by saying; “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me”. But quite contrary to the answer she expected, He says; “Martha, Martha, thou art troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from” (vs. 41,42).

Now here Jesus calls her name twice which shows that He is about to tell her something with great authority and truth in it, which at the same time, was very important too. Read verse 42 again. What was that good thing Mary had chosen, that Martha had not? Yes, to sit in the presence of God and spent time with Him. No matter how busy we are, or what kind of work we do, what Jesus requires of us is our own personal time with Him. He wants nothing from us, except ourselves. So let's surrender and submit ourselves to Him. Even though we may be burdened with so many things, and have no time for anything else, we must never forget to give Him first place in our life. Only when we learn to do that, can He bless us. After all, we are what we are, because of Him.

If my best friend were to visit me today, wouldn’t I prepare myself beforehand so that I can spend time with him/her personally? I would even go to the extent of postponing everything else, to spent some time with that person. If I could sacrifice so much for a person I liked so much, how much more for the King of the Universe and the Lord of my Life.

So if you are a person like Martha, pause a minute and think about what you read just now. I am sure you would not want Jesus to answer you the way He did to Martha, would you ?

                                                                    Courtesy: www.pradhidhwani.com