First Things First
Volume 2, Day 245
During World War II, I served as an orthopaedic technician in a hospital. One day we were cleaning up after putting casts on fractured limbs when I noticed some colleagues messing around instead of helping. I didn’t hesitate to show my displeasure.
Such incidents are why I usually find myself saying a few words in defence of Martha whenever I preach on Luke 10:38-42. You’ll recall that she was “distracted with much serving” (v.40), while her sister Mary did nothing but listen to Jesus.
It’s easy for me to see Martha’s point of view. In Proverbs more than a dozen verses rebuke the slothful. And when some first century Christians stopped working and started to live off others, Paul laid down the rule: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).
Our approach to work must be balanced. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing.” Martha could have said, “Mary, dinner can wait. I’ll join you in listening to Jesus before getting started in the kitchen.”
Work is vital. But we should not be so obsessed with it that it crowds out worship and spiritual instruction.
Work hard, but keep first things first.
Author
Herbert Vander Lugt
