One Necessary Thing

Things have to be gotten ready.
The church doesn't clean itself.
Who put those tables there? That's not where they go; now I have to move them.
Didn't anyone remember to buy grape juice this week?
Can you visit...
Did someone fix the...

Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him [Jesus] and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things...
Luke 10 -40-41

Forget Martha's sister Mary for a minute. We all know about Mary, how she got to sit and listen to the Lord while Martha did all the work. But as I was reading this passage I suddenly realized something about what the Lord was saying to Martha.

He never said stop working.

But He did say stop worrying. He told her to relax. Calm down. Focus on what's important.

Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary...
Luke 10:41-42a

There are so many things that "need" to get done, so many opportunities for service, and we each need to do the work of the kingdom, as we are asked. But we don't need to panic about how much work there is to do. We don't need to complain that others ought to help us but aren't. And we don't need to allow service to get in the way of our relationship with the Lord.

The most important thing is to know Him, If getting to know Him better is the only thing we can accomplish in a day... well, that's all we really needed to do. That's the one necessary thing. The only necessary thing. Oh, we've still got work to do and we should do it, but let's not be distracted or overwhelmed by it.

Relax. Calm down. Let's focus on what's important, what's necessary -- our relationship with Christ.