Martha's Matter

"What mattered to Martha did not really matter after all"

"Martha, Martha you are worried and careful about many things; but only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen that good part and it will not be taken away from her" Luke 10:41

Martha meant good but her goodwill was not God's will. She has a good heart but was not after God's heart. She thought what she was doing was most important but not she did not know it was less important in God's sight. She was quite busy, but not accepted. Her efforts were out of sync with God's plan.

Martha's matter is a serious matter because how would she have known what was most important to God at that time. She just did what she was expected to do normally. Come to think of it we can't really blame her because many of us would have done same. What she did is logically correct if we are to judge fairly. From the eyes of natural man she has done the right thing, i.e. to take good care of her guest. We then did the Lord still blame her for trying to welcome him? How has she erred in trying to welcome the man of God? In fact it was Mary should have been blamed for not giving her sister a helping hand at that instance. Surprisingly, Mary was the one commended to have done the right thing. Hmmm...

Please follow me carefully, because Martha's matter is a very serious matter; it is instructive, insightful and profound as simple as it looks. It means that there are many "good things" that many are involved in, that are not accepted in God's sight. That there are many heroic feats some are involved in that are not so from their maker's point of view. It means many are involved in fruitless efforts, and there's nothing more frustrating than fruitless effort, a thankless deed, or wasted time. I don't want to imagine that this is the life of many today, because the thought of that alone is scary. That someone would have laboured all his life only to be told that, what he/she was involved in was not the right thing. May that never be our portion in Jesus name. And please let's remember that God is not sentimental as in to say, 'oh okay because you have laboured hard even though it wasn't the right thing, you would still be accepted anyway'. No no no! (Refer to the message "God is not sentimental" on this blog).

"What shall it profit a man who gains the whole world and loose his soul in hell?" Does this sound like Martha's matter? Another  "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am like a sounding gong and a clanging cymbal..." Another case if Martha's matter; this is more like an head of prayer unit who's is wicked to his neighbours.

Beloved one thing that the Lord makes clear here is that Christianity is not about activities, but a matter of relationship. God prioritizes relationship over activities. Christianity is rested on relationship with God and man. 2Cor. 5:16 "Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself, through Jesus Christ and has commited unto us the ministry of reconciliation." See that? it's all about relationship.

It's not about what you do or what you don't do, it is more of who you are dealing with. It's about knowing and being familiar with the person that you are involved with. How else can you know a person's mind except you are in relationship with the person.

The principle the Lord Jesus Christ is establishing here is simply that YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD IF YOU DON'T KNOW HIM. The God you don't know, you cannot serve, else you might as well end up like Martha. What mattered to Martha did not really matter after all. If you know him then you serve him better.
"Awake unto righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame" 1Cor 15:34.

"..Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her". Mary chose rather to be with the Lord than to be preoccupied with trying to please the Lord. Because by being with the Lord she will know him and how to please him. Mary chose relationship over activities, and that cannot be taken away from her.

David was a man who lived a new testament life in the old testament. He had a strong relationship with God, he always sought to know God so much that God Himself called him a man after his own heart.
In Ps. 42:1 he said " As the deer pants after water brooks, so my soul pants after Thee O God."
Ps.63:1 "O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thrists for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."
Psalms 27:4 "One thing I have desired of the Lord , That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord , And to inquire in His temple."

David was an incurable seeker of God. A God lover, a man after God's heart. That is the hallmark of men and women that had gone far with God; a formidable relationship with God. Time will not permit us to mention all these great men of God starting from Abraham (who was referred to as friend of God), Moses who spoke with God as a man speaks to his friend, and our grand example Jesus who is also our role model, whose entire mission is to come and bring us into a sonship relationship with God. He said in a place "I and my Father are one". Jesus entire life and ministry was centred around his relationship with the Father. He talked much of the Father to the extent that the disciples once said show us the Father.

John 4:24 "the time is coming and now is that they that worship the Lord shall worship Him in Spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him" God is seeking for relationship not just activities, He seeks for our heart and not just our act.

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments is to love God with all your heart (develop an intimate relationship with God) and love your neighbor as yourself (care about people as much as yourself).

Great people of God, let's snap out of a life full of activities and start a journey of enduring relationship with God, only then will our activities make the desired impact. Seek His heart first and you will surely get His hand. God is not a taskmaster nor a slave driver, he is a Father and he wants to relate to us as sons. Let your service to him be predicated on a solid relationship, only then you can bear fruits. He said if you abide in me and I abide in you, then you will bear much fruits, relationship with God is the key to fruitfulness. John 15:16.

No doubt that many Christians are still like Martha full of activities without a relationship, it's time to come out the kitchen and sit at his feet to hear him and know him. To receive his love and return the love, to know what his heart desire is concerning you.
"that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."Ephesians 3:17‭-‬19

I welcome you into a fulfilling life in Christ Jesus.

Shalom...