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m ust be done; He is th e guest of the home; bu t she is cumbered aoout th e meal. The word means d istracted in h er service; There is a n atu ra l sug gestion th a t in th is service in which she was gladly engaged and worried over, she was a little jealous of Mary who was sitting a t His feet and getting a message from Him. You can se e.h er, can’t you? F lushed w ith her work, coming into th e room and seeing Mary who sa t quietly, drinking in th e words of H im who spake as never man spake. M artha suggests service, a needful service, serving the M aster; a righ tfu l service; a service welcome to H im ; but th e mood of th is service needed a kindly rebuke: “M artha, Martha! thou a rt d istracted in th y service.” Service should be rendered w ithout worry, w ith out distraction or distrust. The seed sometimes falls among thorns. (Luke 8 :1 4 ): “ A n d t h a t w h ic h f e l l a m o n g t h o r n s a r e t h e y , w h ic h , w h e n th e y h a v e h e a r d , g o f o r t h , a n d a r e c h o k e d w i t h c a r e s a n d r i c h e s a n d p l e a s u r e s o f t h i s li f e , a n d b r in g n o f r u i t to p e r f e c tio n .” We are so often warned against th e tendency to worry in our work for Him. P aul puts th e m a tte r in a concise form when he says, (Phil. 4 :6 ): “ B e c a r e f u l f o r n o t h i n g ; b u t in e v e r y t h i n g b y p r a y e r a n d s u p p lic a ti o n w ith t h a n k s g i v i n g l e t y o u r r e q u e s t s b e m a d e k n o w n u n to ' G o d .” " M artha is a little peeved, even a t the Master. L isten to her: “Dost thou not care?” Of course He cares. When the disciples were anxious about the feed ing of th e five thousand, th e Lord had no anxiety. Of course He cared. "Car- est Thou no t th a t we perish?” Of course He cared. (Mark 4 :3 9 ): “ A n d - h e a r o s e , a n d r e b u k e d t h e w in d , a n d s a id u n t o t h e s e a , P e a c e , b e s t i l l . A n d t h e w in d c e a s e d , a n d t h e r e w a s a g r e a t calm»” M artha though t th a t she was th e only one who was serving the Lord, b u t Mary was serving too, for “He also serves who only stands and w aits.” Mary was contributing to His com fort in listening to His words and was being prepared
for a larg er service th a n M artha could ever render. A t H is feet she fell when she said concerning her b ro ther Lazarus; “Lord, if thou h ad st been here, my bro ther had not died” ; and it was a t His feet th a t she broke the box of ointm ent and anointed Him fo r His burial. She did no t go to th e cross; she knew He was to be buried. And she did not go to the tomb w ith th e other Mary; did she not know th a t He would rise again? And is not the deep lesson here th a t the good p a rt th a t Mary chose was to min ister to her Lord as she learned a t His feet; m inister to Him by her abiding faith in H im ; m inister to Him by her h ea rt devotion to Him ? T h at was a hal lowed home, hallowed by His presence; hallowed by living faith in Him; hal lowed by th e choosing of th a t good p art th a t makes Mary’s name frag ran t. (2) A HOLY HOME, (Luke 2:51, 52), The picture here is th a t of Christ in th e home of His mother. I t follows His visit w ith H is parents a t twelve years of age to the temple where He aston ished th e doctors w ith His wisdom,—- “He was subject unto them .” His sup posed fath e r was a carpenter and He was known as th e carpen ter’s son. He no doubt followed th e custom- of Jewish lads and learned th e trad e of a car penter. There is no suggestion, as is fancied by th e Church o f Rome in the apochryphal Gospels, th a t He worked any m iracles or conducted H imself other th an was th e manner of boys of His age. We are sure th a t He was different, however, because He was th e Virgin- born man, th e God-man, God manifest in th e flesh, b u t w ith th e veil of His deity upon Him. His home was a holy home for He was the Holy One. One of the strong proofs th a t the Bible is th e Word of God is its silence. No ch aracter such as His could have been conceived. Obedient to th e earthly au th o rity of th e home; working w ith His hands; in touch w ith all of the
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