New Living Translation (NLT)

Verse 41: 'Dear Martha' from NLT

Verse 41: 'Martha, you are ... many things' from New King James Version (NKJV)

Verse 42: from Berean Standard Bible (BSB)

'Needed' from NKJV (orig. 'necessary')

'It' from NLT (orig. 'the good portion')

Verse 39: 'Says' orig. 'said' from New International Version (NIV)

Italics [I'm] by author

Imagine you're Martha. Just a minute ago, you were doing your crossword puzzle, or whatever it is people did in those days. And now, a bunch of sweaty, dusty and hungry men come crashing into your home. And on top of it all, it's Jesus!

So naturally, you want to make a lasting impression.

You quickly check to see if you've got enough food in the house. Wait, He's going to want water, what with all that traveling on dusty roads and preaching and teaching. Or will He expect wine this late in the day?

Thousands of thoughts are running through your head. Wait, where's Mary? She will need to help me; I can't do this alone. Where is that sister of mine? Whe... are you kidding me?! She's sitting next to Jesus, doing nothing! Can't she see I'm busy here?!

So you walk up to Jesus (I love how she feels completely free to do that; it testifies to their friendship) and you say, "Lord, don't you care that my sister is just sitting around while I'm doing all the work? Tell her to help me!" (Luke 10:40).

All eyes in the room are on you... and then Jesus sides with your sister and says, "Dear Martha, you're worried and troubled about many things. But only one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen it."

Ouch...

But, fair is fair; she did make a lasting impression. Thousands of years later, people are still talking about her and singing songs about her.

Luckily for Martha, her dear friend John vindicated her in John 11:27, where Martha later gives an amazing statement of faith: "You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

Peter's got nothing on her! 😉

It speaks to Martha that she didn't wallow in self-pity and offense. She took this correction from Jesus to heart.

So, what's the takeaway here?

The truth of the matter is, we are all Marthas.

Jesus was not rebuking her; it's a loving correction (when recording and writing this song, I felt the love and gentleness of the Holy Spirit for Martha).

There's nothing wrong with serving, but there's a place and time for things.

To me, this feels just like Jesus telling us to "look at the birds." Lift up your head, lift your eyes away from your worries and troubles, and look up to the birds. Or in this case, Jesus says, "look at me."

He's simply saying, spend some time with me. Every answer to your worries or problems is right here. Come, sit with me. Spend some time with me, and all those other things you need, you will find them here.

So whatever you're doing right now, drop it, (unless it's listening to this song! 😉) step out of the craziness of life for a moment, and sit down, listening at the Lord's feet.

And remember, this song is not just about Martha, it's about you too 😘