Having a Mary Heart - by Amanda VanKuiken

I recently stumbled upon a book called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" which references the story of Jesus’ visit at the home of two sisters. It goes like this:

"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 him 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).

Needless to say, I quickly picked up the book because there’s no denying that my world is a Martha world. It’s a world of to-do lists, and endless chores, and just trying to keep up with the daily grind. After a long day, when the baby has finally fallen asleep, I often notice my husband sitting down to relax. And I also find myself declining his offer to take a break too; to spend some quality time with him before we both must face another day. With exhaustion in my voice, I tell him there are lunches to be prepared, laundry that needs to be washed, and floors that must be swept.

See, I get caught up in thinking that by doing all of these things, I am showing my love to those around me through serving. What I need to remember though is that God values both action and thought. It’s not all about the "doing" if I am not acting in love. And if I am honest with myself, I think a lot of times I am acting in stress and fear and pressures from our society to keep up / appear put together.

I don’t think this lesson is constrained to just my home life either. I see the effects of this "Martha world" on the faces of people all around me. Work is bogging them down. Family events become something to check off the list. Even volunteering becomes more of a to-do than a love-to-do.

Nowadays, when life gets too busy & that Martha figure inside of me starts to take control, I try to remember how Jesus replied to Martha in her moment of angst as she worked so hard to prepare the finest of meals for her Lord. He answered with,　"you are worried　and upset about many things,　but few things are needed—or indeed only one." (Luke 10:41-42).

Today I challenge you to approach all that you must accomplish with a Mary heart (no, I am not saying you should just stop doing what you’re doing). But may you act with love in your heart and direct your intentions to indeed, the only One that truly matters.