It could have been a refreshing relief for the Master to have 1 home in which He could sit and visit, start His sandals, and actually relax. Luke recorded the scene for us in the last few verses of the tenth chapter in his gospel account.

 

 

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a hamlet ; and a girl named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations ; and she came up to Him and claimed, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all of the serving alone? Then let her know to help me.” ( Luke 10:38-40 ). Right away , we are able to see the difference between those 2 sisters—one was satisfied to sit and visit with Jesus, relaxing in His presence, while the other was all bent unfit over “all her preparations.” Pissed off and put out with Mary, Martha made a decision to unload on Jesus, informing him to order Mary to get herself in the kitchen and help her out. Did not He see that “all her preparations” needed a large amount of effort? Definitely there had been no problem with Martha’s need to be hospitable—she just took things too far, attempted to mend too much, and authorized her work to keep her from relaxing and enjoying one of those rare occasions to be with Jesus. She merited high marks for motive, but she permitted her responsibilities to keep her from making the maximum of the possibility.

 

 

The Lord answered and expounded to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and worried about so many things ; but only 1 thing is mandatory, for Mary has selected the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” ( Luke 10:41-42 ). Being keenly keen, Jesus saw beyond Martha’s pressing need to prepare something for them to eat as He put His finger on the difficulty : she was making an attempt to do too much. That led straight to her losing patience with her sister and feeling the necessity to tell Jesus what to do to modify things. There had been not much wrong with her desiring to prepare and serve something—she just did not have to go overboard. That would have authorized Martha time to sit and relax with them during Jesus’s visit. She also would have stayed calm, instead of gotten “worried and bothered” about things. As we consider our goals for living a healthy way of life, it is important that we keep our balance. You may do far better in the long run if you set reasonable goals, stay calm and steady, pace yourself, and refuse to make the acute your standard. Preparation has just as much to do with the thoughts you put in your mind’s eye as it does with the food you put in your mouth.

Have you become “worried and bothered” about too many things—or are you staying calm and realistic? If your intensity level is too high, back off ; you will be a lot happier.