In so many business and even personal circles, preparation is an important component to success. When heading to a board meeting, many top executives take the weeks and even days before the meeting to prepare and when the meeting occurs they are exhausted because of all the preparations. They approach the meeting with feelings of disgust in all they had to do to get ready that it is hard to show their softer side. They present their material, attempt to buy their investors by selling them dreams and then they work overtime to close the deal. Missing from this meeting is the interaction with the board members. In any good partnership, relationship is the most important element. The Bible shows us both sides of the coin, preparation without relationship and preparation and relationship in the lives of Martha and Mary Luke 10: 38-42.
Martha invited Jesus to the house that she shared with her sister Mary. After Martha had invited him they both got busy. Martha cleaned, cooked, set a “perfect” table, called all her friends and organized the troubles of her life so that she could welcome Jesus in. When He arrived Martha was still busy preparing for his visit that she lost sight of what was really important. After all, why did she invite him over? Was it to never spend time with him? She worked so hard that she forgot that what’s Jesus desires is relationship and the only thing she was relating to was what she thought was necessary for his visit. Now I am in no way saying that preparation isn’t important but you have to remember what and who you are preparing for. Now Mary had done her share of cleaning but when Jesus arrived she stopped and took up residence at His feet. Her focus shifted from preparation to relationship. Mary remembered that spending quality time with Jesus is necessary for receiving guidance, wisdom, and healing, and given that the town they lived in, Bethany was known as a place where the sick was cared for Mary wanted to get all that she could from the Master Healer. What vital information Mary was receiving that she could later use to care for sick people.
You can spend your whole life trying to clean up the mess you made of your life but you will never achieve complete cleanliness until you rest, as Mary did, at the feet of Jesus. While Martha had organized her troubles for Jesus, Mary was sitting in a posture to pour her troubles out (1 Peter 5:7). Martha was so disgusted with her sister that she thought surely Jesus will understand the necessity of preparation and tell Mary to help her but to her surprise, Jesus told her that Mary had it all right. Martha’s preparations only yielded her frustration. At the end of Jesus’ visit, all Martha had was dishes to clean, dusting and sweeping to do (the roads during this time were dusty roads), organized troubles and a broken heart. She never got to experience Jesus for herself. We can tell someone all about what Jesus has done for us but unless they experience Him for themselves they will never know personally what the Lord can and will do in their life. On this rainy “Hump Day” why don’t you prepare a place for the Lord then sit at His feet. Spending this quality He is sure to get you over the hump.
Many Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment