But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
There are so many things for us to worry about, especially as we grow older and ‘wiser’. Things are a mess! Our kids, our parents, our friends, our grandkids, our pets, our job, our yard, our car, our loans, our lives, blah, blah, blah….There are just so many good things about which to worry. There is so much ‘worry effort‘ that needs to be expended. What will become of these things if someone doesn’t worry? How will our kids succeed without Mama’s direction (meddling) and Daddy’s enlightening comments (empty pontificating)? How will we prove successful in our jobs without expending at least some ‘thought effort’ (rationalized worry) in that direction every waking hour (workaholism)? And what about our neighbors boat that they never use and that old dilapidated car that won’t even run? All they do is block our view of the rest of the street (nosiness)! These things bother us!
“Someone needs to be bothered by it! No one else seems to care enough to be bothered! It bothers me enough to worry. You must not care if it doesn’t bother you.”
Bother + Worry <> Care. (Bother plus Worry does not equal care).
We are worried and bothered about so many things. In a culture overrun by things, possessions and pleasure, it is simply so easy to be a bothered worrier and we have plenty of them.
Listen, all of these worrisome things will be gone. Gone in an instant. They are earthly. Temporary. Flimsy. They are the cares and worries of this life that try to choke us literally to death. They turn our hair gray and sometimes make it fall out. They make our faces wrinkle up and cut deep lines in our forehead. They are not the necessary, good part.
Jesus clearly states that only one thing is necessary and it is the good part. Which implies that all of that other worrisome junk is not the good part. It is the bad part. When we choose to be bothered and worried we are consciously choosing the bad part. In what other part of our lives would we intentionally do such?
“Yes, will you please hand me that small, moldy piece of pie? I love to savor a nasty piece of pie. Well, someone has to eat it!”
He, Lord Jesus, is the Necessary Eternal Good Part. Submitting our lives to Him in faith is what matters.
Relax. Focus. Pray. Receive the Good Part. He is LORD Jesus.
Worried and Bothered – Luke 10:41-42
Ventanas 