38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesusanswered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Lk. 10:38-42)
Have you noticed that most people identify themselves with what they are doing or have done, what profession they have or previously had, or what they are accomplishing or have accomplished in the past?
Even the Christian life can easily be reduced to revolve around what we are doing, or should be doing, for God. We might be involved in evangelization, in the church worship, as church board members, as ushers, or in the children’s department.
What we do is of course very important, but there is a danger that we identify ourselves too much with what we do for God, instead of identifying ourselves with who we, by grace, are in Christ.
Life’s meaning is not mainly about what we can do for God. Think about when Adam and Eve were created. From the beginning, there was no world to evangelize or win for Christ. Sure, Adam and Eve and their descendants were to multiply and subdue the earth, so there was something for them to do, but most and foremost they were created to have a relationship with God. To fellowship with Him. To allow themselves to be unconditionally loved by Him, and as a response, to love Him back.
It was for this same reason that you and I were created too. Although God has prearranged good works for us to walk in (see Eph. 2:10), what we do for God is not what’s most important. Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:9:
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
You might be wondering: what is my purpose or calling? The answer is: to have a close relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the more important than what we ever can do for God or other people. We were created for fellowship with Jesus Christ!
In a performance-oriented world, I believe it is very important that we remind ourselves about this, so that we don’t rush through life and miss what’s most important and the very purpose behind our existence.
The story about Martha and Mary is a good example of this. Martha only focused on what she could do for Jesus, while Mary actually took the time to sit down and have fellowship with Him. Jesus said that Mary was the one of the two sisters who had chosen “the good part”.
Let us not neglect what’s most important in life, the very meaning of our lives: To allow ourselves to be loved by our Creator and to love Him back. To fellowship with Him, and to include Him in every aspect of our lives.
Maybe you have never experienced having fellowship with God. It starts with you saying yes to Jesus. You can do that right now. Just say: “Jesus, come and meet with me. I believe in You. I invite You into my heart. I say yes to You. You are my Lord.“
