God Is The Good Part

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him 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; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”(Luke 10:40-42)

Parts are parts. A popular commercial about chicken nuggets made that statement. According to the commercial, some didn’t think it mattered what parts of the chicken that nuggets are made from. The ad’s key concept was that it did matter. Now I don’t know whether any part of the chicken is more nutritious than others. But in spiritual matters, it does make a difference which part of our time is spent where. Some things will cause us to grow spiritually. Some things will keep us from growing. Anyone ever tell you that you may be too religious and that you spent too much time trying to get closer to God? The argument can come from our own family members who would benefit greatly from times we invest learning the ways of God. Or the sting can come even from our own church family. Once I spent a painful time watching a church choose to do an activity to attract people in the community while missing God’s presence in the process. We can spend a lot of time doing popular but frivolous things that people do in our culture at large.
God wants me to make the wise choice about how I spend my time with Him. And others will have to live with that. Martha was a dotter of I’s and crosser of T’s. She had a job to do and she was focused on it. We need Marthas as well as Marys in the kingdom of God. But life is more than a job. Life is a journey. We can find God in the journey. We can find frustration in the job. Mary and her sister Martha learned some lessons that we can all take to heart. Our passage can teach us a lot about spiritual choices and the need to choose the good part.
I. SOMETIMES THE RIGHT THINGS CAN BE DONE AT THE WRONG TIME. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home...and then began to prepare for His visit. I can see her in a flurry of activity, aiming to please the Master. Perhaps she was more frustrated about having to do things because nobody else would, rather than wanting to do things out of a servant’s heart.
II. BUSYNESS CAN BE DISTRACTING TO GOD'S BUSINESS. Martha was so absorbed in her agenda she began to set one for Jesus. Sometimes Type A people can meet those that cannot be controlled. Martha tried to get Jesus to tell Mary to do her will. But Jesus was focused on God’s will. No one ever set a schedule for Jesus but the Father. He was always about His Father’s business. Family business.
III. FOCUSING ON FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD PLEASES GOD. The good part is God. His Person is our portion. He is what we need. He is sufficient for the moment. Our challenge is to focus on our time with Him rather than focus on ministry activities of our own design. Focusing on fellowship with God can be a cure to ministry burnout. God is not honored when we lose the joy in the journey. Help someone see that the good part is God. Spend some time with the Lord yourself. Then share what you hear from Him.