A theme, maybe?

My last post was about being focused on "one thing." (One thing = Jesus.) Little did I know what I would read in my Bible today. Ah, yes. The infamous Martha and Mary story. I'm pretty familiar with this one, right? I've heard several sermons about it from various vantage points, and I even read a book devoted to just this one story in particular. How, then, could I possible find something new here?

But you see....it's the glory of God to hide a matter (Proverbs 25:2). We have to search it out.

 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

(Luke 10:41-42)

Only ONE THING is needed! Ding ding ding ding! The word for needed in this context is chreia --- meaning a necessity, such a thing as needed for sustenance. But...it also has a meaning of duty or business. Hmm.

What if Jesus spoke to me, "Nathalie, Nathalie. Only one thing is needed for your sustenance. Only one thing is your duty. Only one thing is really your business."

And I see that Mary chose what is better. She made a conscious choice to sit at His feet. She knew, I'm sure, that there were other things she could be doing, things that probably seemed necessary at the time, but she made a choice to focus on one thing. Him. And everything fell into place. Choosing Him led her to something that nothing and nobody could take away from her.

I have to make a choice. I cannot expect Jesus to force Himself upon me, and I need to realize where my one true duty lies. My duty does not lie to my husband or to my family or to my friends or to my country or to whatever else you could think of. My duty lies with Him. And if I make knowing Him the one thing I devote myself to, all my other "duties" will fall into place.

How could I not see this before?? Why in the world would I choose to be concerned over many things versus being concerned over just one thing? It doesn't really make rational sense to make any other decision. Martha wasn't necessarily wrong per se, but Mary made a much better choice. That's what I want...

I'm sorry if this rambles and doesn't flow very well. I just get excited sometimes.