Workaholic Distractions

Message: There is SO much to glean from Luke 10, but being the busy body that I am, I was particularly drawn to that very last 5 verses about Mary and Martha. It’s a common story where Mary is praised for sitting at the feet of Jesus, and Martha is frustrated doing all of the work and basically pulling a move that every kid knows… “Jesus, tell my sister to help me!!” Except it was more dramatic than that. She said “Jesus, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone?? So tell her to give me a hand.” That may or may not have worked on us as parents, but in this moment, instead of putting Mary to work, Jesus redirects Martha by telling her that Mary chose the better thing. It almost sounds like Jesus is promoting the irresponsibility of neglecting chores and refusing to pitch in.  I don’t believe for a moment that this is true. What WAS being communicated here in verse 40 was that Martha was “distracted by her many tasks.” So in verse 41 Jesus instead corrected Martha by pointing out “Martha, you are worried and upset by many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice and it will not be taken from her.” I related to this so much because in the moment, I can think of a THOUSAND little details that I think will make things better, and I can get lost in the mess of detail. I might be able to accomplish the necessary thing in one task, but I  love the added details and the icing on the cake. Admittedly, I can see where I have actually used the details as an emotional escape to pour myself into while ignoring something emotionally difficult. Work is important, and working together is essential, but we can’t let tasks become a distraction to what really matters. Context obviously matters because if I am AT WORK, I am expected to be on task. No questions asked. But when I fill my time personal time with tasks, it can serve as a never ending bottomless pit of distraction from getting that quiet time with Jesus. I fully believe that once I have spent time with Jesus, he will not only fill me ands refresh me, but he will also help me to efficiently complete the tasks I need to work on.

Command: Work is responsible and important, but I need to spend my time with Jesus before I start these tasks so I do not allow the work to become a distraction from the better things.

Promise: God will fill me with the best things when I spend time with him, and he will even help me to be more efficient when it comes time to work.

Warning: If I don’t spend time with Jesus before starting my tasks for the day, I can easily be swept into the never ending abyss of tasks to be done.

Application: This speaks to me SO hard! I have to fight against the distractions. Even today, I allowed myself to go down a rabbit hole of completing tasks and even creating NEW tasks before I read and wrote this devotional. Once I start, it is difficult to pedal back to the start and I become anxious to return to my task list. This might not be the case for everyone, but I relate to Martha SOOOOO much on this one!

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