Only one thing is necessary, the good part

Luke 10:38-11:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴² but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

11 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” ² And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ ‘Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵ Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹² Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Today’s text says:  Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”    I must admit that I am more like Martha than Mary. For me it is not that I don’t take time to hear the Lord’s teaching, but I do get distracted with preparation. I am at times worried and bothered about many things. I must confess that even at church there are times when I am so focused on preparations that I might not hear what the Lord is saying through the Holy Spirit. How many opportunities have I missed to do the Lord’s will, because I thought I was preparing to do His work? There is a balance that we need to find in all that we do. Preparation and planning is important. Doing the work of a ministry is necessary for doing the work of the ministry. While it is important to prepare and to plan, it is vital that we allow time and room for God’s plans. At times I think that the most difficult things we are called to do are to wait, to watch, to rest and to listen. Jesus says:  “…only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

 In James 4:13-15 it says:  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”   In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus Himself says:  “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

For us, the Lord Jesus is not here sitting in our room. For us then, it is not always that we take time to sit at His feet, although we do that in prayer, in meditation and devotion and in worship. For us, the good part is learning to listen to the Holy Spirit, even while we are busy with the things and the plans of our days. Jesus says:  “When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].” (John 16:13 Amp.)    The Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative, nor will He be concerned with our plans or our agenda. He will speak whatever He hears from the Father. Every day, in every situation and circumstance, He will disclose what is to come, what is the Father’s will for us and for others. If we would do the good works of God, if we would do the things that Jesus did, as He said we would, we must be willing to do what is necessary, the good part, to wait, to watch, to rest and to listen.  

In today’s text Jesus says:  “I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”   God knows all that we need. He is concerned about today and tomorrow, but He is not worried. He has already provided all that we need. God wants to give us all that is good. If we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, He will give us all that we need. We will not need to worry or fret making our own plans or preparations. Even more, if we ask, He will give us more of the Holy Spirit, to guide us and teach us. He will give us the one thing that is necessary, the good part, and it will not be taken from us.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I choose to sit at Your feet, to worship You, to pray and to meditate on Your word. I also desire to walk with You, hearing as You speak. Even in the midst of the distractions and the business of my day and my plans, I choose to listen and follow You. I want the good part, all that You want to do for me and through me as I wait, watch, rest, listen and walk with You.  Amen.