Something I've been wondering about for a while is how to figure out whether I should put serving God or worshipping God first. I often find myself about to spend time in personal worship, when I'm side-tracked by an opportunity to serve Him (usually computer repair). Later, I feel bad because I didn't spend time in worship, but I'm unsure whether those feelings are well-founded because I spent time in service. It's all rather confusing, really.
The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV) would seem to address this issue quite well:
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said,
Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.And Jesus answered and said to her,
Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.
I studied this recently as part of my daily devotional. In that passage, Jesus is eating at the home of Mary and Martha. Martha spent most of her time while Jesus was there cooking, while Mary spent her time listening to Christ's teachings. Martha becomes quite frustrated by Mary's lack of help, but Jesus gently reassures her that Mary is where she needs to be.
Here's where the devotional comes in handy:
Which response to Jesus' visit was the better? We may rush to say that Mary's way was better, but Jesus did not reprimand Martha for her service. Rather, He helped her to realize that service to others is incomplete apart from a personal relationship with Christ.
The commentary I use reiterated the above: The story is not meant to teach the value of a contemplative life compared with a life of action, but to show that service to Jesus must not fill people's lives to such an extent that they have no time to learn from Him.
So, what can we glean from all these resources? They would all seem to say that while serving Christ is important, it is fruitless if we don't have a relationship with Him. We should be putting prayer time with Christ before serving Him. Cool.
