Service or devotion

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” Luke 10:41-42
Mary and Martha were two sisters, who lived in Bethany with their brother Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead). Jesus and His disciples often stayed with them when they were visiting Jerusalem, as it was not far away. But these two sisters could not have been more different in character.
In Luke 10, we read how Martha was busy fussing over the visitors, preparing food and making room in their house. Meanwhile, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to what He had to say. Naturally, Martha got upset that Mary wasn’t helping her.
Sometimes it’s easy for us to get so busy serving the Lord that we fail to take time to just sit and listen to Him. Our schedules are packed with preparing things for church – maybe teaching Sunday school or leading a home group – that we feel like we don’t have time to just sit in God’s presence, be still, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. If we only concern ourselves with service to the Lord, without spending devotional time with Him, we will get burnt out and bitter about the work. But as we spend time just sitting listening to Him, He will soften our hearts and fill us with His Spirit – which will never be taken away from us.
We don’t need to choose between service and devotion – it’s not a case of one or the other. But we do need to put them in the correct priority order.