As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
~Luke 10:38-42
Some people call it OCD... I call it clean. Whatever you call it, I have a disorder... and it appears this disorder isn't new. In fact, it's a problem that was even around in Jesus' time.
"Hello my name is Martha, and I'm a clean freak."
So... enough sugar coating it... let's call it what it is... PEOPLE PLEASING. I aim to please... EVERYBODY. Especially those who may happen to stop by my house... What will they think if my house is a mess? What if my kid's rooms are messy? Does that make me a bad mom? Does that mean I'm not teaching them to be a respectful contributing member of society? I think Martha was the same way. She was worried about what Jesus and his buddies would think of her... is that such a bad thing? I can see it in my head (because it happens nearly every day at my house...) "How can I possibly spend time with Jesus right now?! Can't anybody else see all of the clothes that need washed? Or the bathrooms that are a mess? Or that the kitchen has dishes still sitting out from the dinner that I worked so hard to prepare? (That will be so delicious it will really impress people) UGH... as you can see this is one gigantic snowball on one slippery slope...
So let's look at Mary... oh Mary... you make it look so easy. "... Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said." I really doubt she was worried about Martha doing the dishes... or that after Jesus left she was going to get a "talking to" by her sister.
How can I apply this to my life? Mary didn't have kids... she didn't have lacrosse practice, or cheer practice, or 2 jobs or... or... or...
Ok... let's see what Jesus said. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Is Jesus really saying that it doesn't matter what people think of her? That HE is more important that them? weird... so is it really saying that spending time reading my Bible, praying and studying His word is more important than MY busy work?! I'm not going to lie... this is going to be HARD, but I'm willing to give it a shot... I am going to make an effort to spend time with Jesus BEFORE cleaning my house (and hopefully not think about what I could be doing the whole time).
Stay tuned on this one...
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
~Matthew 6:33
PS... I'm having faith that based on the verse above God will give me joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self control and children who love to clean!! :)
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