God desires for us to be near Him because he loves us.
Focus Scripture
Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Try reading these verses again and meditate on the words below:
Welcomed: (verb) to receive or accept with pleasure; regard as pleasant or good
Heard: (verb) to learn by the ear or by being told; be informed of
Distracted: (adjective) to be drawn away or diverted, as the mind or attention
Serving: (verb) furnishing or supplying with something needed or desired
Biblical History
During the frequent travels of Jesus and his disciples, they would often stay at the homes of fellow believers. During each visit, Jesus would fellowship with the families He stayed with. Jesus had stayed with Mary and Martha on other travels before. He cared for their family very much. Earlier in His ministry Jesus had actually raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha both loved Jesus very deeply.
God WANTS us near to Him.
Jesus did not NEED to stay with anyone as He traveled. As the Son of God, Jesus could have chosen to create food and shelter for Himself and His companions. Jesus chose to abide with others not because He NEEDED to, but because He WANTED to.
We do not need to "earn our spot" before we draw nearer to God.
Many women grow up thinking that that the best way to make someone love them is by serving them more and more. Serving others is definitely important. The problem comes when we try to grow a relationship through works.
Relationships are built through quality time spent with another. Doing things for people should never replace quality time spent with them. Serving will never move us closer to someone, it will only make us feel more needed. God doesn't need any of us. He desires for each of us to abide with Him, because He loves us. Drawing closer to Jesus can only be accomplished by becoming less like Martha and more like Mary.
To truly be near to Jesus, we must focus less on work and more on fellowship. It is important that each of us truly understand that it is God's LOVE that calls and allows us to come to Him. We do not earn our spot by the work of our hands!
