“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:42 (ESV)
I welcomed Jesus into our home with joy,
My hands already planning the meal,
My mind cataloging what needed to be done,
My heart eager to serve him properly.
So I bustled about the kitchen,
Kneading dough, chopping vegetables,
Stirring pots, arranging platters,
Determined to make everything perfect.
But as I worked, frustration grew within me.
There sat my sister Mary at Jesus’ feet,
While the work of hospitality fell entirely to me.
With each passing moment, my resentment grew,
Until it spilled over in an outburst directed not at Mary,
But at Jesus himself: “Lord, do you not care
That my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!”
I expected him to agree, to send Mary to help,
To affirm the importance of the work I was doing.
Instead, his response stopped me in my tracks:
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.”
“But one thing is necessary.”
“Mary has chosen the good portion,
Which will not be taken away from her.”
The good portion—not the food I was preparing,
But the nourishment Mary was receiving.
Not the meal that would satisfy for a moment,
But the words that would sustain eternally.
The contrast became painfully clear:
I had chosen the temporary; she had chosen the eternal.
I had chosen activity; she had chosen relationship.
I had chosen service; she had chosen presence.
It wasn’t that my service was wrong.
Hospitality matters; practical needs are real.
But I had allowed the good to become the enemy of the best,
Had prioritized doing for Jesus over being with Jesus.
In my desire to serve him well,
I had missed the opportunity to know him better.
In my focus on providing for his needs,
I had neglected my own deeper need for him.
That day changed my understanding of discipleship.
I learned that service disconnected from relationship
Becomes anxious, troubled, resentful activity,
Rather than joyful, loving ministry.
Perhaps you, like me, find yourself anxious and troubled about many things,
Rushing from task to task in service of good causes,
Resenting those who seem less burdened,
Missing the one necessary thing in the midst of many good things.
The question is not whether service matters—it does.
The question is whether your service flows from relationship,
Whether your doing springs from being,
Whether your work is rooted in worship.
Will you, like Mary, choose the good portion?
Will you prioritize presence over productivity?
Will you recognize that some opportunities to be with Jesus,
Once missed, may not come again?
For the good portion—relationship with Jesus himself—
Is the one thing that truly matters,
The one thing that cannot be taken from you,
The one necessary thing.