Tag: serving

“But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, doest thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” Luke 10:40

The life of Christ here on earth was filled with serving, was it not? He did not come here to be served, but He came here to serve. Matthew 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He did this as an example for us to follow.

I grew up in ministry and have been in ministry my entire adult life so far and I have seen the pendulum swing (heavily) both ways when it comes to service. On one hand you have those who seemingly are content to fill the pew … when they decide to come to church … and on the other hand, you have those who seemingly spend 42/7 (no, that is not a typo!) “ministering” (serving). Which one is correct? Neither one!

It is just as much a sin to underserve as it is to overserve. Shock! But, it is true! The Bible just told us that in black and white in our verse for today.

There is a principle that we see in Matthew 6:33 that ties in here … “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Did you catch it? It hinges off of the fourth word in this verse. What it is? First, correct?

Do you know what the definition of the word first is? It is something that comes before all others. It is the primary or principle thing, is it not? It outranks all other things. But, do you know what? There are other things! Serving our Savior must be our first and primary priority, but God knows that there must be a balance found as well … because He knows that there are other things that require our time and energy as well.

In verse 39 of Luke 10, it says, “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” Now, let us go back and reread our verse for today … “But Martha was cumbered about much serving …” It really is, or should not be anyways, a surprise that Luke used the conjunction but here because clearly there is a vast difference between what Mary was doing and what Martha was doing. Correct?

Do you and I not find ourselves caught up in the Martha lifestyle being “cumbered,” or all tied up in knots, over-serving and forgetting that the first part (our first priority) must be our time spent at the Savior’s feet?

I am a slow learner, but I am learning. I am slowly moving forward in my proper service to Him and to others. May you also find yourself in this learning and growing process as well … and may we not forget that then “all these things shall be added unto you.”

We cannot do it alone, but we can do it with Him as our guide!