Captain Busyness

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

  But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

Multi-tasking has become our mantra.  We work late, get home late, eat late, work some more until the wee hours of the morning, jump into bed expecting sleep to be waiting on us, then we remember that project we are supposed to have finished tomorrow, so we're up again, and on and on and on.  

Then we wonder why we're tired.  So we start pounding down the coffee, energy drinks, and push ourselves ever harder to do more of everything.....EXCEPT relax.  It's as if we have lost the ability to actually relax!

In today's passage, Martha is trying to be THE perfect hostess by greeting Jesus at the door and then off to the kitchen to prepare the meal, back out to set the table, back into the kitchen to peel potatos and carrots, shell the beans, make the bread, baste the meat, back to put napkins and silverware on the table......Martha was BUSY!

Mary, on the other hand, wanted to learn from Jesus.  She took the time for the IMPORTANT instead of all the busyness.  Martha decided it was time to call Mary out right in front of Jesus, so she comes blustering into the room, INTERRUPTS Jesus, and demands that Jesus make Mary leave the important to help her with the busyness.  Look at Jesus' response: "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!"  

Jesus chides Martha for focusing on the busyness of life.  Notice also that Mary isn't sitting on her backside being lazy, rather she is sitting at the feet of Jesus and she is LEARNING from Him.  Tired of being tired?  Let go of the busyness and learn to rest and relax.  Spend time with your loved ones.  Busyness is learned and has become ingrained in us.  Isn't it about time to learn how to rest, relax and recharge?