God wants us to grow in our faith in him, but we can do certain things in our life, which will hinder or prevent that growth, or the level of that growth.
One of the things which will slow down our growth in the things of God, is our daily worries and cares, for the many things which are in our life, and which often are very important.
When a seed is sown into the ground, if there are good conditions in the soil, and if the soil is good, it will die and produce a plant. But, that plant needs to grow. If there are no thorns around that seed, that plant will grow no problem.
But if there are thorns close to that seed, the pant will be overshadowed by the thorns, and they will slow down the growth of that plant.
In a similar way, when there are many cares in our life, and many worries, we can let them overshadow the function and the purpose of the Word of God in our life.
Of course we need to take care of many vital and important things in our life, on a daily basis, perhaps, we need to sort out or sift, which things are not necessary, even if we think that they are.
It is up to us, if we will let various spiritual ‘thorns’ to overshadow the work of God in our life.
We can be like Mary, which chose to be with Jesus, and to listen to him, sitting at his feet. Or we can be like Martha, which was listening to noise of all the preparations going on in the kitchen, instead of listening to Jesus (Luke 10:41). It is all about choice.
Jesus recommended Mary, instead of Martha, because Mary chose to be with Jesus when he came to them, instead to be with all the cooks and chefs in the busy kitchen.
Martha let the worries about the cakes and chicken in the oven, take over, and overshadow, what Jesus was talking to those listening and sitting around him.
Martha let the worries of the kitchen overshadow the Word of God for her life, and she missed the vital lessons from heaven, coming from the lips of Jesus.
So, in that sense, in that particular moment, Mary grew spiritually, but Marta just grew in body weight, by circulating around the cakes in the kitchen.
Mary became ‘fatter’ in her spirit, by feeding on the words of Jesus, and Martha by feeding in the kitchen.
Sometimes the worry about the chicken in the oven or the cakes in the kitchen, can shrink our spiritual growth, and increase our circumference and waist line.
Doing things for God, like Martha did, when she prepared the meal for Jesus, is not enough to be closer to God, and to grow spiritually. We need to be with Jesus because that is what our relationship with God is all about, first of all. To be with God.
Doing things for God is important, but being with God is more important. That is why Jesus said that Mary has chosen the better part.
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