The Thing
Roy Blizzard III © 2015
Text: Luke 10:38-42
38) Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39) And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. 40) But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41) And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many THINGS: 42) But one THING is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
In this short word to Martha, Jesus reveals a message that is as relevant today for us as it was to Martha and that goes far down into the truth of our Hope and Faith as believers in Jesus’ Kingdom. This message was a comparison, not a contrast. It was a comparison between the choice that was good, but not the best, and the choice that was THE GOOD ONE. It was not a contrast between the absolute bad and the positively good, it was a comparison between the good that was insufficient and the good that sufficed.
There are those who choose the positively bad; pleasure which is unlawful, profits which are dishonest, a life that is ungodly, and Jesus condemns these elsewhere in the text, but here Jesus is condemning something else entirely. Jesus condemns the too absorbing pursuit of that which is not supreme, that which is good only up to a point, but is ultimately powerless in Jesus’ Kingdom.
The inference Jesus was drawing is that many good THINGS, however many they may be, do not constitute the GOOD THING, and these other things will disappear and disappoint. What a lesson for us! Home, health, worldly position, literary delights, art, school activities, civic clubs, work, all are good in their measure, but they are not the Bread of Life and the River of Living Water. The will not save. It has got to the point where we place these things before Jesus and His Kingdom. It is if activity in Jesus’ Kingdom must conform to our life and our rules. Do you think that God is pleased with our attitude towards His Chosen One and His Kingdom?
Do we need a religious revival? Is this what is best? It doesn’t appear so. Today our world is as spiritually bankrupt as it has ever been. Surely, there is a form of religion in Christianity, but it is have a fractured religion, one with over 30,000 variants, and each one claiming to have the ultimate truth. They are social religions, religions of the head and not the heart where people are only going because it is the thing to do, the thing they think will cover up their sin, the thing they do out of fear of going to hell.
They put on what they think is a Mantle of Righteousness on Sunday but they don’t wear it the rest of the week, and some don’t even wear it all day Sunday. To be a Believer means more than just going to Sunday School, or Bible School, or Church on Sunday. Living in Jesus’ Kingdom means to live every day in existence within Jesus and His Kingdom. It means to dedicate oneself in service to Jesus and His work in unification of Jesus’ purposes, not our own.
How many believers today are really experiencing Jesus’ presence on Sunday, much less on a daily basis? How many of us can really say, “I know.” This form of righteousness where a so called believer will place every other thing before Listening to Jesus is what makes many people ineffective and dying spiritually because they are trying to exist as spiritual beings outside of the parameters of Jesus’ Kingdom. If you are not playing by the rules of Jesus’ Kingdom that He set up for us to play by, how will we ever be successful in that spiritual life?
People hear preaching every day, on and on, in one ear and out the other, but never eliciting a change within the person. This doesn’t elevate anyone to Spiritual Heights, but only creates fear and depression within the Church, because no power is ever created or exchanged within Jesus’ Kingdom. It is as if the Churches are filled with people who are riding stationary bicycles; a lot of energy is expended, but no one is going anywhere.
The Thing we need is that which Jesus was trying to explain, the keys to His Kingdom, the Thing that elicits a real Spiritual Revival within one’s heart and mind. We have to place Jesus and His Kingdom before all else. We must present our bodies and minds and souls as living sacrifices and the work of God must come first before all other “activity” because all other activity outside of Jesus’ Kingdom purposes is just that, activity. Work that is done for no real purpose and that has no real end and goal. Work that ultimately brings us down, not builds us up.
The point Jesus is making here is that there is only ONE Thing that is surpassingly excellent that it may be considered THE GOOD THING and that is “that part which shall not be taken away” verse 42. For Mary, it is Divine Truth as it came to her in the form of Jesus her Savior. Shouldn’t it be the same for us? Why are we to only read about and learn about Jesus at a distance? Jesus is real and He is just as alive today as He was in the days of Mary so why are we not sitting at His feet and learning from Him and experiencing Him as Mary was?
This GOOD THING is the experiencing of Jesus PERSONALLY, not just reading about Him and studying about Him and casually knowing who He is but not intimately acquainted with Him. It is like me knowing all about the Presidents and the office of the President and knowing who they all were and are, but never knowing intimately the office of the President because I haven’t lived it. Praise God we can LIVE a LIFE with JESUS and EXPERIENCE it as HE LIVES WITHIN US. This is the Heavenly Wisdom that we receive directly from God.
Mary drank in that immortal truth as she sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His words. We also receive Him into our hearts and beings as we go into Him and begin to experience His existence as Mary did, person to person. By existing within Him we learn of the ways of God, the ways of man and the way of light and peace and eternal life. From Him we gain forgiveness, purity, usefulness, and a hope in the Savior that does not make us ashamed because of our sins. Romans 5.
This is the good part, the intrinsically precious, the invaluable THING, which no figures can calculate its worth; it is the good part which can never be lost. No power on earth can spiritually touch us or harm us once we have it. Disease can’t waste it, fire can’t consume it, crime will not steal it, death can’t destroy it and the grave can’t hold it. This is the THING that Jesus was speaking of when He said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…” in Matthew 6:33.
This is the part to choose. We can Choose it because God has provided the way to Choose it. For us we must hear the Word of God and believe that it is true and obey it by repenting or asking forgiveness of our sins, confessing that Jesus is our Savior and being baptized into all that Jesus is, in other words experiencing His life.
We must Choose it because Jesus said, speaking of the spiritual conditions of the last days, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Like 18:8 Will there be a real abiding Faithfulness to be found existing within Jesus’ Kingdom; a Faithfulness born due to the believer existing within Jesus’ own existence and purposes upon the earth.
This is the Choice that we have to make; each and every one of us have to make. WE have to Choose that THING that Jesus told Martha that she needed to be counted as a good and faithful servant of Jesus within His Kingdom. We must choose to exist at the feet of the Living Jesus today and experience His life and words of life and allow them to recreate our life anew within Him.
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