As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to [Jesus] and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Luke 10:38-40

Sometimes good things take us away from something better. That happened in the life of Martha, whose story is recorded in Luke 10:38-42. When Jesus and His disciples arrived in the village of Bethany, Martha welcomed them into her home. Being a good host meant that someone had to prepare the meal for the guests and that was EXACTLY what Martha had intentions of doing.

When Martha complained that her sister Mary wasn’t helping, Jesus defended Mary’s choice to sit at His feet. But the Lord wasn’t saying that Mary was more spiritual than her sister. On occasion Martha seems to have shown more trust in Jesus than Mary did (John 11:19-20). And He wasn’t being critical of Martha’s desire to look after their physical needs. Rather, what the Lord wanted Martha to hear is that in the busyness of our service, listening to Him, is the main event.

In life, we often need a reminder to put the important things over urgent tasks. We could spend a lifetime worrying about the day-to-day “responsibilities” and giving our resources of time and attention to them. But what we really should be spending most of our energy on is important, eternal matters. Sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. Let’s put the distractions of today off and subdue the misery of busyness so that we can make our spiritual growth a true priority.