Daily Devotion Tuesday May 18

Recently Pastor Don spoke about Mary and Martha. In his sermon, he discussed the visit between Mary, Martha and Jesus.  Mary was enjoying the visit immensely. She was soaking in what Jesus had to say and was “in the moment”. Martha, on the other hand, was obsessed with tasks- on getting work done. She wanted to share her competence as a hostess with Jesus and became so engrossed  in that  role that she missed out on the visit. She proceeded to become upset and bitterly asked Jesus to tell Mary to help.  Jesus responded that he would not ask Mary to do this as they were enjoying their visit. Pastor Don pointed out that balance is a necessity in situations like this. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “shoulds” and the desire to get things as close to perfection as we can, that we may miss those beautiful moments.  

​Shauna Niequest describes this as an issue with gluttony and pride. She states that gluttony is manifested when we want to experience everything and pride is shown often when we feel we need to do things to be seen as an amazingly skilled person. Those who cannot say no to every experience and every task often find that they are trying to strive to prove their worthiness.  You are worthy from the beginning. What you do is just icing on the cake.  

​There is nothing wrong with expecting great work out of yourself and others. We should do so, but we also need to remind ourselves that our worth does not come from what we do, but who we are.  Do you struggle with the desire to be and do all things for all people?  How can you begin to rest a bit, knowing that it will only make you a better person all around? - Meghan

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