Verse of the Day for July 21

Jesus says her name twice. Martha, Martha. People repeat a name when they love someone and want them to stop for a moment and really hear. It is not the voice of a teacher scolding. It is closer to a friend putting a hand on a shoulder.

Martha is not wrong to cook. Someone had to feed a room full of guests, and Luke tells us she was the one who welcomed Jesus into the house. The problem is the word many. thou art careful and troubled about many things. Her mind is pulled in a dozen directions.

Against the many he sets one: But one thing is needful. Mary has chosen it, and Jesus says it shall not be taken away from her. The meal will be eaten and forgotten. The listening will stay.

Prayer with both feet on the ground does not mean abandoning the work. It means letting the one thing hold the many things in their proper place. Martha could have sat for ten minutes and then cooked with a quieter heart.

If you are in the kitchen tonight, pot on the fire, phone buzzing, guests on their way, hear him say your name twice. Then sit, even for a short while, before you stand again.

Jesus does not despise the work; he gives it its proper size.

What you receive while listening cannot be taken away.