16/01/2026
God Bless our Ate’s who are always busy at the kitchen every event🫶 Although, we now have a speaker at the kitchen, to physically participate or to sit still and listen every events is still different. Even so, may this responsibility not become a burden nor will it redirect our focus. Instead, may it inspire others in being a Martha with the heart to serve by helping with joy at the kitchen ministry to make things more faster to prepare and then we’ll be able to be like Mary whose focused in completely listening to the word of God.
The story of Martha is familiar, and precisely because it is familiar, it is easy to misunderstand.
Luke tells us that when Jesus entered a village,
a woman named Martha welcomed Him
into her home (Luke 10:38).
For context, in the first-century Jewish world,
hospitality was not optional.
Welcoming a guest, especially a rabbi,
was a sacred responsibility.
Food had to be prepared,
space had to be arranged,
honor had to be shown
in the best way possible.
Martha was not doing something wrong.
She was just doing something expected.
Her sister, Mary, however, chose a different posture.
She sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching.
And again, for context, that phrase is not casual.
“Sitting at the feet” was the posture of a disciple.
Culturally, this was striking because women
were rarely described this way in rabbinic settings.
Luke seems to want us to notice that Jesus allowed
and affirmed, Mary’s place as a learner.
The tension arose not because Martha served,
but because her service slowly reshaped her heart.
Luke writes that Martha was
“distracted with much serving”.
The word translated distracted
carries the idea of being pulled apart,
dragged in different directions.
Her tasks multiplied, her attention fractured,
and eventually her frustration spilled out,
not at the work, but at Jesus Himself.
“Lord, do you not care…?”
That question reveals the deeper issue.
Martha was doing many good things,
yet she felt unseen and unheard.
Her service had quietly turned
into a measure of worth,
and when it was not acknowledged,
resentment followed.
What began as hospitality ended as accusation.
But Jesus’ response was gentle, not harsh.
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled
about many things, but one thing is necessary.”
Notice that He did not condemn her work.
He named her inner state. Anxiety. Trouble.
A heart overfilled with many things, even good ones,
leaving no room for the necessary thing.
Mary, Jesus said, had chosen the “better portion.”
This does not mean service is inferior to listening.
Scripture consistently calls God’s people to serve.
The warning here is more subtle, activity, even faithful activity,
can slowly replace attentiveness to Christ.
We can be so busy doing for Jesus that we stop being with Jesus.
Martha’s danger is one many believers face.
We plan, prepare, organize, lead, and serve.
Churches need Marthas.
Families rely on Marthas.
Ministries collapse without Marthas.
But when service becomes the place
where we seek validation, control, or identity,
it quietly shifts us away from rest
and toward resentment.
What makes this story especially sobering
is that Martha was not distracted by sin.
She was distracted by responsibility.
Jesus did not ask her to stop serving.
He invited her to reorder her priorities.
Christ Himself would later embody
the balance Martha struggled to hold.
In the Gospels, Jesus withdrew to pray
even when crowds demanded His attention.
He refused to let urgent needs
replace communion with the Father.
In Him, we see perfect obedience
flowing out of perfect relationship.
So to clarify, being aware of being like Martha
is not to despise work, but to examine the heart behind it.
Ask yourself right now,
Am I serving from love, or from pressure?
Am I attentive to Christ, or merely active for Him?
Have many good things crowded out the one necessary thing?
His invitation to sit at His feet still remains open.
And there, quietly, the soul can find the rest it so needed.
