Devotion before Duty

How many of us make the mistake of doing our duties before devotion?  Martha made that mistake.

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

It was very nice for Martha to open her house to Jesus.  Though He was popular, and people were curious about Him, yet He was also controversial.  By welcoming Him to her house Martha showed that she was willing to listen to what He was teaching.

But the story tells us she was distracted.

40 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!"

To be distracted means that you are taken away from what should be your main focus.  The first thing Martha did was to prepare something for her guest.  The preparation became her priority, rather than the guest.  Some say that she was the eldest of the two sisters, and it was her duty to prepare something for the guest.

But she was distracted from what should have been her priority – listening to His teaching.  This is what Mary did.

39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.

She was so devoted to the Lord’s teaching that she forgot everything else she was supposed to do!  Martha saw this as being inconsiderate of her elder sister’s plight.  But Jesus saw this as devotion, devotion to Him.

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

Jesus made it clear.  Mary chose what was best – her sitting down at His feet and listening to His words.  He didn’t say that Martha was doing something wrong, she just didn’t choose what was best at that moment that He was there.  She chose duty before devotion.

How do we know we have been distracted with our duties?

40 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!"

First, she came to Jesus not to pray or listen, but to complain.  “Lord, don’t You care…?”

Second, she felt alone in her duties, as if she was the only one serving.  “my sister has left me to do the work by myself”.

Then, she tells Jesus what He should do, instead of listening and asking Jesus what He wanted her to do.  “Tell her to help me”.

Have we placed our duties before our devotion?  We will have no power, no inspiration, no guidance, no assurance of His presence when we place duty before devotion.

On the other hand, we have power, strength, guidance, wisdom, inspiration, patience, perseverance…and most importantly we have the presence of our Lord with us when we put devotion before duty.

Devotion before Duty.