Pastor Léveillé opened a new Wednesday evening series titled Ordinary Days with Jesus, looking at what a walk with Christ looks like on Monday through Friday, in the middle of busyness, discouragement, and loneliness. The first message asked a searching question: what happens when the very things that are good begin to crowd out the one thing that is necessary?
Most believers are not in danger of ruining their lives by a string of openly sinful choices. The greater risk is that work, family, ministry, and care for others, all good in themselves, slowly take the heart away from Christ. Work is good. Family is good. Serving the church and bearing one another’s burdens is good. The answer is not to stop doing those things. The answer is to keep Christ first so that everything else becomes an act of worship. When service is done without that focus, resentment follows. That is the warning in the home of Martha and Mary.
The passage reads:
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
Recognize When Good Responsibilities Are Carrying Your Attention Away (vs. 38-40)
Martha received Jesus into her house. That was no small courtesy in that culture. An honoured guest, and those with Him, required food, water, oil, seating, and comfort. There was no shortcut. She was doing useful, even beautiful work. The problem was not the work. The problem was that the work pulled her heart.
Luke notes that Mary “also” sat at Jesus’ feet. The word suggests that Martha had sat there too. Then the serving took over. Busy is a calendar word. Cumbered is a heart word. To be cumbered is to be pulled away. A full day planner is not automatically a spiritual failure. A heart that can no longer give Christ time, adoration, Scripture, and prayer has moved from the calendar into the soul.
Just before this account Jesus had told the parable of the good Samaritan. Believers are to stop and help. The story of Mary and Martha supplies the balancing truth: never become so busy helping that the Lord Himself is lost from view. George Müller carried the care of thousands of orphans, schools, correspondence, and preaching. He still made the first work of every day getting his own soul happy in God through the Word. The first duty was not the mail or the food order. It was fellowship with Christ so that serving would not become cumbering.
The same danger appears in vocational ministry and in Bible college. Good assignments, good books, good sermons, and good songs can fill a day until the heart is no longer tuned to the Lord. Do not wait until exhaustion forces a change. If Jesus has been crowded to the edge of the day, decide now to begin tomorrow with Him, even if that means rising earlier or simplifying something else.
Refuse To Let Busyness Distort How You See People And God (vs. 40-41)
Martha’s path is easy to trace. She served. Then she was distracted. Then she grew frustrated. Then she became resentful. Then she questioned Christ: “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?”
Serving became a distraction from worship. Distraction became frustration. Frustration hardened into resentment. Resentment distorted her view of Mary and then of the Lord. Mary was no longer a beloved sister. She was the one who had left her. Jesus was no longer the honoured Guest she had welcomed. He was the One who seemed not to care.
The same slide can overtake pastors, missionaries, church members, and faithful workers. A person can love the work of the Lord and still grow bitter toward the people of the Lord, toward the tasks, and finally toward God Himself. Moses reached that point at Meribah. After years of complaint he struck the rock and spoke unadvisedly. Scripture explains, “Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.” (Psalm 106:33)
Faithway Baptist Church is rich in people who serve week after week, cover nursery gaps, practise music for hours so that a few minutes of worship can be offered, drive van routes, take meals, and stay longer than planned because someone needed to talk. That labour is part of what makes the church an exciting place. It must never replace Jesus Himself.
The call is not to leave ministry and sit idle. The good Samaritan still stands. The warning is this: if the heart is no longer fixed on Christ, even good work will produce resentment, harsh judgments of others, and eventually the question, “Lord, dost thou not care?” When irritation rises over good responsibilities, treat it as a spiritual matter. Slow down. Pray over the items that frustrate. Do not assign motives to brothers and sisters. Interpret the pressure through what is already known of God’s character. Some tasks may need to be released or delegated. Some may need to be offered again as worship. Do not let busyness rewrite the way people or the Lord are seen.
Choose The One Necessary Priority Among The Many Legitimate Demands (vs. 42)
Jesus reduced Martha’s many concerns to one word: needful. “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Hospitality mattered. The meal mattered. Serving mattered. None of those things was sinful. One thing stood above them. The incarnate Son of God was in the house with a word, and the kitchen had become louder than His voice. Walking with God does not happen by accident. Faithful prayer and meditation on Scripture happen because they are chosen.
If a person waits until life grows quiet enough for Christ, the wait may never end. Most days will be full. The necessary thing must be placed first, and the other legitimate demands then set in His hands. He can multiply time, send help, or show that some involvements were never His assignment. Until the main thing is first, the many things will crush the soul.
Mary chose. That is the verb. Decide beforehand when, tomorrow, time will be given to sit at His feet. Sometimes that means saying no to good invitations so that the one necessary thing is protected. Build the day around fellowship with Christ rather than squeezing Him into whatever is left. One simple reminder, even a watch that marks the hour, can call the heart back to brief prayer through the day. The method will differ. The choice must not.
What God plants in the heart through His Word remains. Much of the week’s labour will need to be done again tomorrow. Fellowship with Christ will not be taken away. The choice is not between good and evil. It is between many good things and the one thing that is absolutely necessary. If that one thing is not chosen, the many things will choose the heart, and exhaustion will turn to frustration and then to resentment.
Conclusion
Good things are still good. Work, family, ministry, and care for others should continue. They must not be allowed to pull the heart from Jesus. Recognize when responsibilities have become cumbering. Refuse to let a full calendar distort the view of people or of God. Choose, on purpose, the one necessary thing: to sit at His feet, to hear His Word, and to keep the heart turned toward Him. Then the other labours can be offered as worship, and the good part that Mary chose will not be taken away.
