The One Thing You Need Every Day
/Do you ever get fever brain? I do. Fever brain is when your mind gets so busy and full of thoughts and items that need dealt with that it’s like sitting in your car in the summer with a barely functioning air conditioner. As the temperature rises, you get to the place where you can’t think of anything else but getting cooler. All thought becomes centered on fixing the issue or accomplishing the task. That’s fever brain, in a nutshell.
When afflicted with fever brain, we feel that attending to the stuff or accomplishing the task must happen before normalcy can resume. That kind of fettered thinking simply isn’t true. Instead, as soon as we become aware of the frenzied thinking in our heads, we need to respond in a God-glorifying way.
Martha Had Fever Brain
In Luke 10:38-42, we happen upon Martha in the midst of a meltdown. The friction from the “must-do-this-and-this-and-this-to-be-a-good-hostess” details in her head appear to have reached their boiling point. Look at how Martha’s fever brain is revealed in her story.
“Now as they were traveling along, He [Jesus] entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’ 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.’”
Jesus Applies a Cool Rag to Martha’s Overheated Thinking
Thankfully, God’s Word cools off our fevered brains. In Luke 10:38-42, it’s like Jesus opens a window of truth to allow a refreshing breeze to blow through a stifling hot kitchen. As our sweet Martha hears those soul-calming words from the Word of God Himself, she gains some perspective. Let’s take a peek and see what we can learn from Martha’s story, because like it or not, we all find ourselves in the midst of those “Martha, Martha, fever brain” days every once in a while.
Jesus Helped Martha Prioritize. Martha was distracted by her many preparations, yet Jesus prioritizes for her in Luke 10:41-42, “You are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary.” His words cut through the fevered fog and provide the refreshing draught of hope and help Martha desperately needed at that moment, “Only one thing is necessary.”
I love how practical and helpful Jesus’ counsel is! One thing. My mental bandwidth isn’t that wide, so I find it incredibly useful to keep things narrowed down. Without zeroing in on what’s truly important, I can get grumpy, definitely worried, fretful, and demanding. My distracted brain focuses on me and my needs, while failing to see what’s really going on in my own heart. Just like Martha.
It must be a problem for us because Jesus encourages us in Matthew 6:33 with these words, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” Again, we see Jesus drawing our attention to the things that are most important. One thing is necessary. Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. The wrinkles caused by the stuff and things of life get smoothed out when we make the Lord our priority.
Jesus Helped Martha See Her Misplaced Priorities. She was worried and distracted about “so many things,” it says in Luke 10:41. The “so many” clamored for her attention. And it appears, she felt they needed her attention. They were consuming and seemed tremendously important in that moment.
Now, it wasn’t wrong for Martha to take care of her guests. She desired to serve those in her home and lovingly bless them with a nourishing meal. All good. So then, what went wrong? Probably the same thing that happens to many of us. Our desire to bless and be a blessing ends up morphing into a “deal.” The properly focused priority ends up being supplanted by preparations, so that they are misplaced, put in the wrong place, and put into a higher place than necessary. Let’s graciously give Martha the benefit of the doubt and say that she had fully intended to go sit and listen to Jesus too, yet somehow fever brain took over and the dinner details derailed her devotion. Thankfully, Jesus helped her see that her focus on the myriad of preparations made her lose sight of the greater need all those gathered that day had—which was to hear from Jesus.
Jesus Helped Martha See How to Practically Prioritize. We learn from listening in on Jesus’ conversation with Martha that the most important thing we can do is hear from Jesus. Mary had already figured this out, which was why she was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach (Luke 10:39). It took Jesus pointing this out to Martha before she figured this out. I’m relating to Martha again here. Sometimes, I feel like I’m so slow in cluing into what everyone else already knows. Yet, no matter when we arrive at this conclusion—the point is to arrive and begin reorienting and prioritizing for that one thing, so essential to the health of our souls. We need to hear from God through His Word—and we need to make it a priority. Jesus said Mary chose the good part, which would not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42).
Mary Chose to Hear from Jesus. Ahhh…now, that’s interesting. Jesus reminded Martha that Mary chose to hear from Jesus. Living a narrowed down, one thing is necessary kind of life is intentional. It means making the choices and decisions that allow us to live focused on the one thing. Charles Spurgeon notes, “Mary was not praised for sitting still; but for her sitting at Jesus’ feet.” She made a great choice and receives praise from the Lord. In Psalm 143:8, David models this same focus and devotion. We see him choosing and delighting in time with God. “Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; for I trust in You; teach me the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift up my soul.” Mary’s clear-eyed understanding of what was truly important for her spiritual health provides a heading for us to follow. Remembering what is essential helps us live for God’s kingdom even while attending to the needs of others.
Mary Took Advantage of the Time She Had with Jesus. Mary so prized time with Jesus that she purposed to hear from Him while she had the opportunity. She knew Jesus wouldn’t always be readily available to teach her, so because He was near, she drew near. She made Jesus a priority, even though it meant making changes to her regular daily routine. For Mary, it meant taking some unusual steps to hear Him—sitting at His feet, not helping Martha with all the preparations. Our choices aren’t nearly as eye-brow raising for we can always hear the Lord teach us whenever we open our Bibles. Yet it’s important to consider how we are taking advantage of the time we do have to spend with the Lord. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Sometimes, people say, “Oh but helping Martha is important too.” Absolutely! Yet there’s no need to set up a straw man argument. Nothing in the text indicates that Mary was known as a work shirker. What is clear from the text is that in this part of her life story, she wasn’t helping with the household duties. Why? She didn’t help in preparing for the meal because Jesus was in her home teaching on the kingdom. She wanted to hear from the Son of God on how to know God. Mary understood that in the grand scheme of things, knowing and understanding about the kingdom took precedence over dinner. I sometimes wonder if Martha had just waited a bit longer before complaining to Jesus about her sister if Mary would have come in to help her before too long.
Mary Invested in Something that Would Last. Jesus pointed out that when Mary chose to spend time with Him, she was spending time on something eternal. In fact, Jesus said it was something that couldn’t be taken away from her. Because Mary filled her soul with Jesus’ teaching from God’s Word, she had the truths she needed to supply strength to her soul. Jesus commends Mary for spending time with Him and listening to Him teach. When Jesus met the woman at the well in John 4:13–14, He told her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Mary filled her heart with eternally, fruit-bearing Word of God.
The Big Takeaway
Mary put into practice some important lessons in her life that we can apply too. Let’s sit at her feet, watching and learning from her devotion as she sits at Jesus’ feet.
Mary planned to spend time with the Lord. Let’s follow her example and prepare to do the same. If you want everything else in your life to work, to flow smoothly, to remain cool in the midst of fluster and flurry, then spending time with the Lord in His Word is a must. Do you have a plan for when and where you will meet with the Lord tomorrow? Have you considered what book of the Bible you’d like to begin reading and studying? Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.”
Mary made a choice to hear and learn from God’s Word. Let’s follow her example and choose the Word of God. Mary chose to listen to the Lord even though her sister was disappointed with her, while braving the condemnation of others because she seated herself at Jesus’ feet among the men. Mary chose God’s Word though it cost her. She could easily have echoed Paul’s words, “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:7).”
The choices you make each day to fill your mind and heart with the Word will bear godly fruit in you. You can pore over the Scriptures by reading a section over and over again or list 5 to 10 things you discover simply from looking at that section of Scripture, both ways get you to dig into the Scriptures. Yet you must still choose to spend time there first.
Mary prized the Lord. Let’s follow her example in this way too. When the Lord is your portion, friend, and joy, it’s easy to prize Him. If you struggle to spend time with the Lord in His Word, it could be that you don’t know Him yet, that He isn’t your refuge, rescuer, and Savior. Seek the Lord to prize Him better. And you will prize Him better as you seek Him. Let your inner-Mary disciple you as you intentionally seek the Lord in your Martha-filled days. And just like Mary, choose the good part by making the Lord and His Word your priority and joy.
