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Insights & Encouragement

A Mary or Martha Morning?

Luke 10:39 And [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted...

The first meaningful question I have to answer almost every morning is whether it will be a “Mary” or “Martha” morning. Martha is my default. I find myself distracted by many things - desiring to check my email immediately and start thinking about every meeting or deliverable I have that day. The inevitable result is stress and anxiety. How much better to fall before the feet of Jesus and feast on the Word of God? It never ceases to amaze me how much better prepared I am for the troubles of the day when I start by recalibrating my mind and spirit to the Holy Scriptures.

Practical tip:
About 15 years ago I made a life-changing discovery. I found supplementing my bible reading with a good commentary to be extremely fruitful. Do not be intimidated by the word “commentary”, as they are not all the same! While there are certainly many technical commentaries that help us with teaching (but put me to sleep in the AM), there are also great devotional commentary series. I have found two series, in particular, to be great for devotions: “The Bible Speaks Today” edited by John Stott (NT) and Alec Motyer (OT) and perhaps better for most people is the “Focus on the Bible” series: try my favorite devotional commentary author in this series - Dale Ralph Davis. Especially if you have neglected the Old Testament for a while, his works on Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings will help these books come alive to you. First prayerfully read the scripture text referenced in the header of each commentary chapter, then the commentary chapter itself.

Let’s make our mornings “Mary” ones!
41 … the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

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