As a spiritually born-again Christian, you are called primarily to Him (Christ). We are called to be more than just a passive believer or stiff religious servant of the Lord. Your journey is not merely about sitting in faith or serving others—it's about knowing the Lord deeply. It's about obeying God over all the expectations of pushy people (inside or outside the Church) around you. It's about letting Jesus be Lord in practice and not just in theory. It's about enjoying the victory He givers us over the world system, over devils, and your our own fleshly nature that tells us to do what it tells us to do. It's about consistently walking in love exemplifying Christ's character and attitude.
There's to be a Balance Between Sitting and Serving
Some Christians struggle when they are overly passive. Some are waiting for God to act when He has already called them to take some action. Not too much action.
Some believers are overly passive like many lost people are. On the other hand, there are those who serve tirelessly, too much even, often to the point of neglecting their own time in the presence of Jesus. Do you have a prayer time in the Bible each day? It can be like breathing. We exhale prayers, petitions and praise, then we inhale and live the life. I hear the Lord when I prayerfully crack His Book open.
Maintaining Proper Priorities is Related To Spiritual Balance, To Spiritual Victory, and To Peace Inside
Lately, Liney and I have been serving a whole lot of unbelievers in the area.. even on days we don't feel like it. Not saying this to impress anyone at all. It's not impressive I'd say -- we never want to serve the Lord in our flesh rather than in His strength. So many people we know are serving people and doing this right. We are here to serve the Lord and are really not trying to over-serve with people. We pray together about all this and the different arenas we serve in a lot, and we only want to take on what Christ really wants for us to be involved with.
"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." John 4:23 nkjv
Learning from Mary and Martha
When we become too busy serving, we risk becoming like Martha (temporarily acted), who was distracted and upset because of all the preparations she felt were absolutely necessary. Martha’s sister, Mary, chose to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to His word (good timing, He'd soon be crucified and buried)—this was a choice Jesus commended. He gently, clearly, lovingly reminded Martha that only one thing was truly needed at that time: spending time in His presence hearing Him.
Hey Kurt, be reminded to keep Jesus first and all other priorities aligned with His/God's will for you. This will ensure that all your service will be directed service with pure motives -- it'll flow out of a deep, abiding relationship with Him. Your life will glorify the Lord!
Perhaps, given Jesus’s clear response to her demand. And the word “distracted” means to be drawn away, to be driven about mentally, to become over-occupied.
Very literally, distracted means to be pushed, pulled and dragged in different directions. Martha’s distraction leads to a sense of frustration. to aloneness, and to self-righteousness, to self-focus and to questions about Jesus’s care.
Was she angry at Mary? Martha’s type of distraction leads into what? To five Ds:
- Disbelief – Martha asks, “Do you not care..?”
- Defensiveness – Martha defends her place: “My sister has left me to serve alone.”
- Dismissiveness – Martha depersonalizes Mary as “my sister,” as though Mary is not even there.
- Demands – Martha flat-out says to Jesus, “Tell her to help me.”
- Desperation – Martha attempts to control the situation—and Jesus—with her comment about being alone.
"Martha’s distracted serving led her to a place she did not want to go. Martha surely regrets the way she speaks to Jesus. We hear him lovingly acknowledge the state of her heart when with tender repetition Jesus says, “Martha, Martha.” Jesus invites her to consider a way of serving that is without distraction or self-righteousness. In Martha’s mind, she seems to have no choice but to serve alone with much worry. Jesus reminds her that she does have a choice. Martha can spend time doing the one “needed” and “necessary” thing from which all else flows.
She Is Primarily Called To Jesus and We Are Primarily Called To Jesus
Jesus did not acquiesce to Mary’s sitting at his feet. He unequivocally applauds it. Jesus affirms Mary as his disciple as well as her choice to abide with him. Jesus declares that “one thing” is needed as his disciple: a kind of attentiveness to Jesus that glories in his presence, a serving that bears eternal fruit.
Not long after visiting Mary and Martha, Jesus uses a vine as a teaching metaphor (John 15). As he walks through the grapevines of the Kidron Valley, Jesus emphatically endorses a choice like Mary’s. He instructs the disciples how to live without his physical presence. The key, he says, is abiding in him and allowing his words to abide in them. For apart from Jesus, they will not be able to do anything of kingdom value. It is to the Father’s glory that they bear much fruit. Mary models that fruit will not be born apart from remaining in Jesus.
Yet and still, each of us needs to be a Mary and a Martha. As disciples, we are called both to sit and to serve. We are called both to abide and to bear fruit. We sit and hear Jesus’s word. We bow at his feet in worship. We kneel before him in prayer. In all these ways, we follow after Mary’s example at the feet of Jesus. It is in this place that we find the discernment, clarity, wisdom, strength, and courage to bring Christ’s loving presence into the world." ~ Michelle Christy
In our sincere desire to follow God’s call by serving him with everything we have, we can easily find ourselves overcommitted, “worried and troubled about many things.” Distracted. In a culture that exalts multitasking and a “we-can-do-it-all” mentality, we have a teacher who invites us to learn his way and adopt his priorities. This one, who Paul says “ascended on high..and gave gifts,” gives each of us gifts for such a time to best express God’s love in our appointed generation (Ephesians 4:8, niv).
I used to think serving in evangelism was to be my top priority ministry and I still like serving and evangelism, but go though the Bible again. You were made...
"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Eph. 1:6
"That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory." Eph. 1:12-14 See the context
"Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven." Ps. 148:13
You were born to worship and glorify the Lord. We each have been uniquely given expression in the body of Christ. If we are all trying to do it all we'll go into error driven into distraction. Instead, we are to remain and abide in Jesus by sitting at his feet as long as he wants us to. My flesh often says, "Kurt, that's enough. Let's get up and get going for Jesus." But I have to follow the Spirit and say "Shut up enemy and flesh, I simply need more time alone with Jesus today."
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(Thank you if you have!)
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I pray for fruit that abides to eternal life. We receive and absorb truths from God's word, and strong grace from His love. We love to be with Him. We hear God's word, and these words of truth remain in us for the purpose of wise application. There is a time for serving right. For apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). So many people are talking about spiritual growth these days, but there is no spiritual growth apart from the living word of God! We serve God best when we worship Jesus and keep Him first. Do you really know Him? Now is good for that.
