Choosing the Good Part

Nothing says “Home” like the smell of fresh bread from the oven.  We can spend hours preparing the dough and baking it the traditional way, or we can get a quick recipe and have it ready in no time.  If baking is not our thing, then we quickly go to the corner shop and buy it fresh.  

What does the smell of fresh bread have to do with the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible?  Perhaps more than you might think.  It can be found in the Book of Luke Chapter 10 from v38.  Here is a short summary:

Jesus is visiting their house in Bethany and Martha is busy in the kitchen.  The Bible says that she was distracted by all her serving responsibilities.  It doesn’t say exactly what she was doing but if she had people in her house, I would imagine she was preparing a meal for them.  Nowhere is it mentioned that the Lord asked her to do so though.  In fact, this story takes place shortly after Jesus miraculously fed 5 000 people with five loaves of bread and two small fish.  I am inclined to think that Jesus was well able to turn her cans of baked beans and sandwiches into the most amazing feast without even breaking a sweat.  Yet she was busy and distracted by her duties.  This while Mary is sitting on the floor focussed on Him, making Him her one and only priority.  So while Martha was preparing bread, Mary was staring at Jesus, the "Bread of Life" sitting in her lounge.  I think the challenge today is that we can be busy and distracted by the things of the Lord while neglecting and ignoring the Lord himself.  Jesus called what Mary was doing, her “choosing the good part”, which would not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:41-42 - 41 But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.”

What is the good part that Mary chose?  She chose - and I pray to have a hunger for the same - to sit at His feet, to look in His face and to hear Him speak directly to her.  That is the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven.  That is the Rhema, the words that jump out at you and change you.  I want to get it fresh for myself every day.   

As Mary was the one who loved and adored Jesus, the Bible follows her story.  Later we see in the book of John Chapter 12 where she anointed His feet and wiped it with her hair.  Her closeness with Him and how she anointed His feet, not only honored and prioritized Him, but caused her and the whole house to smell of Him.  

John 12:3 - Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 

 

Just like Mary carried the presence of Jesus, so it is seen in the story of Peter and John who healed the paralyzed man.  After the miracle they were arrested and thrown in prison.  The educated men of the Jewish High Court recognized that even though they were ordinary fishermen, it was unmistakable that they had been with Jesus.  

Acts 4:7, 13 - 7 And they set the men in their midst and repeatedly demanded, By what sort of power or by what kind of authority did [such people as] you do this [healing]?

13 Now when the men of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) saw the confidence and boldness of Peter and John, and grasped the fact that they were uneducated and untrained [ordinary] men, they were astounded, and began to recognize that they had been with Jesus. 

I want my daily walk with Him to be so personal that not only will His fragrance rub off on me, but it will be evident to everyone around me that I have been with Jesus.  That way I will be able to walk in His wisdom and compassion and the love with which He treated everyone who came to Him. 

Finally, the Book of Song of Solomon describes the Lord who is the Bridegroom and His relationship to His Bride, the Church.  It says that He is like an apple tree amongst the other trees in the forest.  She goes there every day to eat of the apples and to be refreshed.  Because she eats of the apples, her breath and her words smell of it. 

Like Mary, I want the good part - to be sustained daily with fresh bread and apples - I want that to be the fragrance from my mouth, making even my words sweet.

Photos from Janine’s amazing collection.

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