Will I get up now?

Or will I stay in bed a little longer?

Will I drink one cup of coffee or two?

Creamer or black?

Breakfast or not?

Check my email?

Facebook?

Twitter?

Shower?

Wash my hair?

Read my Bible?

Meditate?

Exercise?

In fact, our ability to choose is one of the ways that we are made in the image of God and it is one of the things that has confounded mankind for centuries. Why would God give us the ability – and the right- to choose incorrectly? Why would God allow us to make choices that would harm us – even to the extent of choosing heaven or hell? Well, that is a theological debate for another day – or not – I’ll choose later:)

I’ve often heard it said we make our own choices, and then those choices make us. How painfully true I’ve found that to be at times! But on the flip side, our good choices make room for a good results in our lives.

Luke 10 records the story of Mary and Martha. Most Christians have heard a dozen sermons on Mary and Martha, many of which make Martha look like a selfish woman. Yet, how often can we identify with Martha? There is just so much to do in a day! Think of how you would feel if you were hosting an event at your home with Jesus and several more people. You’d want them to feel honored. You would want to serve them some great food. Everything would need to be clean. I imagine that most of us would rather quickly get caught up in the swirl of activity.

Luke 10:38-42 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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

We applaud Mary for sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening. We look down on Martha for her choice. It’s all so black and white to us, as most things are in hindsight. And there has been so much said about Mary and Martha, so many lessons we can look at but for today I only want to focus on a few thoughts about this real-life story.

1. Martha made a good choice by inviting Jesus into her home.

2. Sometime after her initial good choice, she got lost in the swirl of activity and failed to make the most of the opportunity which was, so to speak, right at her front door.

3. Martha got distracted. Need I say more? I assume you can apply that to your own life.

4. She got distracted by all that needed to be done. Was she distracted because of her own need to perform? Her need to impress? Perhaps it was her godly desire to serve? The Greek word used here in the original is literally “with much serving”. Ugh, she got distracted by her serving.

5. Martha complained to Jesus. I imagine that she had been stewing for quite a while before she got up her courage to actually complain to Jesus. Perhaps what she wanted to say to Jesus was, “Hey, I am doing all this because of you and if you really appreciate it, you need to tell Mary to get off her butt and help me.” (that’s the Southern translation). Call it what you will, but the heart of this matter is that MARTHA TRIED TO CONTROL MARY AND JESUS. Do you realize that if God gives us the right to make choices, we also have to give others that right?

6. Jesus cut through the exterior of what Martha was saying and got to the heart of the matter. I don’t think he was primarily rebuking her. I think he kindly addressed her, very personally, saying her name twice – purposefully. He then acknowledged her emotions. You see, I believe Jesus wanted to bring the truth about Martha’s emotions out on the table, so to speak. He wanted Martha to see that her choices had led to her emotional state of being upset and worried. Jesus wants us to honestly acknowledge our emotions, whether they be anger or worry or fear or… Then we can deal appropriately with them. Before Jesus said anything about Mary, he first lead Martha into the depths of her own heart.

7. Jesus offered Martha an opportunity to refocus. He said, “…only one thing is needed.” Basically, he didn’t bash Martha for the cooking, cleaning, and organizing, he simply offered her an opportunity to tune in her GPS. Her focus was to be on Jesus, not what needed to be done, and not on Mary. Jesus still speaks to us this way today. He kindly lets us know that we are not to compare ourselves to others in order to prove our worth, but we are to set our aim on him. I really don’t think Jesus was comparing Martha to Mary, as some suggest, because he never does that in the Word. He compared where Martha’s heart was at that moment to where it needed to be.

8. Jesus affirmed Mary’s choice. In fact, he said it was a BETTER choice. Again, I don’t think he was comparing or putting Martha down. He was addressing what I believe was underlying Martha’s frustration in the first place. SHE WANTED TO BE SITTING AT JESUS’ FEET HERSELF. Jesus affirms that the position of sitting at his feet, listening to his teaching, being with him, is truly a better position than the one that is so busy with “doing” that we forget “being”.

9. Jesus said, “It will not be taken away from Mary.” He basically said, “I am not going to ask her to get distracted with all the doing because she is being and that is something she will never lose.” Fast forward, what about a few years later. Mary still had, in her spiritual bank, the deposit she made that day by sitting at Jesus’ feet. And perhaps Martha took the opportunity to do so after her conversation with Jesus, but assuming that she did not, what did she have in her spiritual bank from that day? Was it a deposit or a withdrawal?

Well, there is so much more we could say on this topic, but let’s end by reflecting on these questions.

Is your approach to the Christian life one of “doing” or “being”?

Is your approach to the Christian life filled with “shoulds” and “have tos”?

Does your service for Christ leave you feeling pressured, distracted, and disconnected from Jesus?

Are you centering your life on knowing Jesus, sitting at his feet, and receiving from his presence?

Do you spend time enjoying God?

Do you try to control others and even God Himself?

There is so much that does need to be done in this life in our service of Christ. But let’s all take some time out to check and see if our service is being done in a way that builds us up or tears us down – spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. Our body, soul, and spirit are to be sanctified for the glory of God.

Are there changes you need to make today? Take a deep breath – or two – or several. Quiet your busy mind and emotions and spend some time at Jesus’ feet today. What you gain will never be taken away from you. It’s the right choice!

Jesus came to heal broken hearts and not only as a side benefit; it’s one of his life purposes!  That’s good news because all of us who are in this world have experienced the pain of having our hearts broken in one way or another.  If we look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels, we find that he moves throughout his days interacting with humanity and healing broken hearts. That healing takes many expressions. Today I want to look at how Jesus healed the heart of a woman as recorded in John 4 and what that healing means for us now.

Let’s take a look at the story.

Jesus was exhausted from his long trip. He had gone to the city well to get a drink of water. However, what followed was not a chance happening at all because we are told that Jesus “needed” to go through the region of Samaria; he was compelled to do so.

 Jews did not have anything to do with Samaritans in those days. Samaritans were considered half-breeds and unclean by Jewish tradition. Yet Jesus, a Jew, chose to go through the middle of Samaria instead of making the usual trip around the area as most Jews did in order to avoid the Samaritans.

Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at the well. He broke cultural and religious rules by speaking to her. Men didn’t speak to women in public in those days and a Jewish man certainly would not speak to a Samaritan woman. What transpired changed her life.

Jesus navigated through the woman’s resistance and avoidance and brought up a major issue of her life, not to condemn her, but in order to heal her. Jesus spelled out that she had had five husbands and was now living with a sixth man. The Samaritan woman yet again tried to avoid her heart issues, but Jesus persisted. He revealed Himself to her as the “Christ”.

He first encountered her in his humanity, a man who was thirsty and tired. He bridged cultural and religious differences in order to “do the will of Him who sent me” (vs. 34). He confronted her avoidance and resistance, bringing her life story into the light and then offering her “living water”.  In essence, Jesus communicated to her that there was nothing about her that would prevent her from having a relationship with God; not her religious background, her cultural background, nor her personal history.

Although the story doesn’t specifically tell us, I believe the woman took Jesus’ offer. Amazingly, we see her leading many to believe in Jesus because of her “testimony” – There is a man who knows all about me and didn’t reject me; he gave me life-giving water.

He healed her heart. Jesus dealt with her shame. He dealt with her guilt. He cut through the religious, cultural traps and did the will of God, offering healing to the broken hearted.

He is still the same today. He is offering life and healing to all the thirsty, empty, broken-hearted.

Do you need his healing? Allow your resistance and avoidance to fall away. Lay down any religious, cultural, or matters of personal history which you believe disqualify you from knowing God and/or receiving His healing for your heart. Allow Jesus to move you past your shame and guilt and into the living waters.

He desires to purposefully encounter your heart right now. Your heart is important to him. Your heart and my heart were the hearts he was talking about when he said he had come to heal the broken-hearted.

Are you spiritually thirsty? Jesus freely offers living water. Drink deeply of the rivers of this living water for its flow will heal the broken places in your heart.

And may the Church represent Jesus well and offer the same to all today: healing, regardless of  personal history, cultural background, or religious beliefs. When we do, we will find that his living water refreshes and restores and testimonies of his grace will lead others to him as well.

And my heart is drawn to this idea… “When he saw that he was healed…”

Sometimes our healing comes just this obviously. We look and we see.  We are healed. At other times, our healing is a process; it comes piece by piece, particularly when Jesus is healing our hearts.

Today I am asking myself, and I hope you will ask yourself, how do I respond to God’s healing in my life? Can I see what He is doing in me?

All ten lepers could physically see that they were healed. Yet this one, he saw more. He saw the person of Christ. He saw His redeemer.  The others were doing just what Jesus told them. They were going to the priests in order to be declared ceremonially cleansed which would allow them to reconnect with their world and their God. Yet this one…

Imagine yourself as one of the lepers in the story… You have been banished from society. You have a communicable disease which has separated you from your family, your community, your job. No one can physically touch you. Even before you contracted this disease, you already were living with the knowledge that you were considered unworthy by the religious community because you were not of a pure bloodline – you were a half-breed.  You know what rejection is all about.  And suddenly, you are given a pass back to life. You are physically healed. You can barely wait to go hug your spouse, your child, your parent, your friends. You have been given a ticket back to your “church”.

Nine of the ten immediately took the offer Jesus gave them. They were excited about their physical healing; they had to be! But this one…

He saw his healing…

And yet… he saw more.

He had eyes to see that he had been given more the opportunity for more than physical healing, and he entered into it. He couldn’t take another step without connecting with his God. He glorified God by falling at Jesus’ feet and thanking him loudly. He fell at the feet of the High Priest, Jesus, who declared him clean in much more than his physical body.

Jesus declared this man glorified God and his faith had made him well. Oh, but it was so much more than his amazingly wonderful physical healing. His eyes had seen his Redeemer!

Today I wonder if we could take a few moments to contemplate God’s healings in our lives. Perhaps you will be led to see more today than you’ve seen before, to see beyond the obvious to the deep inner work that God is doing in you. Would you take the next few moments to think on the following thoughts?How has God been healing your heart?

What deep work is He doing in your heart?

What incorrect religious mindset is He tearing down inside your thinking?

How is He restoring your relationships?

How is God revealing Himself to you as your Redeemer?

Could you pause to fall at His feet, thanking Him for the restorative work He is doing inside you? And if you are not sure just what that work is, maybe you are in such a dark place that you can’t see what he is doing, would you ask Him to show you?

Our heartfelt thanksgiving glorifies God.

My next entry this week will focus more on how God heals our hearts. Hope you’ll keep walking on the journey with me.