Once upon a time, there were two sisters. One sister was always busy mopping or dusting, fixing lunch for those that would drop by and secretly envying her sister, who instead of helping with the chores, chose to squander her time hanging around the guests and making sure they were comfortable.
Sound familiar?
That’s the story of Mary and Martha, the two sisters who serve Jesus. One serves him by making sure dinner isn’t burned and the other serves him by doting on Him. Which does he prefer? You got it. He likes to be doted on. After all, He is God. However, Martha had a hard time understanding that and thought that what she had to do was more important than what Mary was doing (paying attention to her Lord). Martha was making pie crust while Mary was giving Jesus a foot massage with her hair and some rather expensive oil. She spared no expense and he enjoyed every minute of it, even telling Martha that Mary had chosen the most important thing to do.
Poor Martha. In her own way she’s trying to do the right thing and serve a delicious meal, in a spotless house, surrounded by a group of men who could care less. They preferred having their feet rubbed. So she gives up and throws in the kitchen towel and goes and sits out on the couch and watches Mary. She’s really into this perfume and toes thing. The bottom strands of her hair are oily where she used them to rub Jesus’ feet. This – this thing Mary was doing for Jesus – this was more important than a fresh potato salad and a perfectly cooked steak?
She watched. She watched the look on Mary’s face. She watched the look on Jesus’ face. She watched the faces of the disciples who had come with Jesus.
Mary was intent. You could see, without her having to say a word, that she loved this man called Jesus with a deep love. As Martha watched, it was easy to see that Jesus almost as if Mary knew him better. How could that be? She hadn’t spent any more time with Him than Martha had. Or had she? When he’d drop by, Martha made snacks in the kitchen while Mary chose to sit at her beloved’s feet and listen to his stories.
Martha watched Jesus’ face. It was almost as if she could see the burdens he carried, melt away with each tender touch. There was something about the human touch and it’s healing effects that not even apple pie could fix.
The longer she sat there, Martha began to understand. What she did was important and needful, but not every time Jesus came to visit. Every once in a while he asked for some iced tea. She would get it. Sometimes he’d ask for a sandwich and she’d make it. He knew all he had to do was ask and she’d gladly do it. Maybe that’s what she needed to do – wait for Him to ask and until he did, she’d spend some of that spare time doing something a little more important - like rubbing her master’s feet and seeing him smile as He looked into her eyes saying, “Well done.”
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