The story of Mary and Martha helps reveal to us the twin characteristics in our lives: to worship the Lord and work for Him. The example of Mary is that fellowship should always come first.

Mary and Martha go together like chalk and cheese.

Although they are sisters, and usually appear together in the Bible, its authors often draw attention to their differences rather than their similarities.

Martha seems to be more of a practical, extrovert temperament and Mary has a devotional, introvert personality.

Whilst both of these dispositions are perfectly normal, there seem to be underlying insecurities and incorrect priorities in Martha's heart that are not found in Mary's.

In fact, at one point, Jesus remarked that Mary had chosen a better course of action than Martha, which was due to correct priorities, not different temperaments.

A similar example of contrasting the attitude of siblings occurs with Jacob and Esau in the Old Testament.

In Genesis 25:29–34 Esau traded his birthright inheritance as the older brother for a bowl of stew.

That birthright included the spiritual and tribal leadership that had been passed down from Abraham and yet, in the words of the Living Bible, Esau "went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away" (Gen.

25:34).

Esau's focus was on the physical, material world which he made a priority over the spiritual but invisible inheritance that truly belonged to him.

He chose the immediate pleasure of food to eternal fellowship with God.

Consider now the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42.

Many people sympathise with Martha and feel that Mary was lazy whilst her sister was faithfully preparing food for Jesus and the other guests.

Certainly Martha felt this way and even asked Jesus to rebuke her sister! We need to read the text carefully to really understand why this story has been included in the scriptures.

This is not just a minor family dispute but a drama of fundamental significance to our faith and relationship with God.

The Amplified version translates Luke 10:40 as: "Martha, over-occupied and too busy, was distracted with much serving."

Jesus responds to her in verse 41: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things."

These statements give us a window of insight into Martha's attitudes and priorities.

Rather than prepare something quickly and simply for Jesus, it is suggested that Martha was so preoccupied about preparing an elaborate meal to impress and earn His commendation, that she had no time to spend with Jesus Himself.

Work for the Lord distracted Martha and became more important to her than spending time with the Lord of the Work! Like Esau, she chose food instead of fellowship.

This is a similar thought to the story of the church at Ephesus found in Revelation 2:1–6.

"I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit.

I know you can't stomach evil … I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out" (The Message).

Yet Jesus charged them, "you have left and abandoned the love that you had at first – you have deserted me, your first love".

Ephesus was a place where the believers worked so hard for the church of the Lord that they had abandoned the Lord of the Church! It is not unlike a marriage where the partners cook, clean, garden and decorate but there is no longer any romance.

If we are not careful we can, like the Pharisees, be so concerned about the beautiful temple that we ignore the One for whom it was built.

The correct priority for our lives is shown in Mark 3:14: "He appointed twelve … that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach".

We spend time in fellowship with Jesus and then go to work.

Mary did not avoid work, she simply chose to be at the feet of Jesus.

If those feet were still, she too would be still but if they were moving with a sense of purpose she would walk with Jesus to work with Him.

Mary listened to Jesus's words of encouragement and then obeyed His words of direction.

The story of Mary and Martha helps reveal to us the twin characteristics in our lives: to worship the Lord and work for Him.

The example of Mary is that fellowship should always come first.