“Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me!” (Luke 10:40).
Of all the ironies. Martha was in the presence of the Prince of Peace, yet she was the picture of stress. Martha’s downfall was not her work or request; it was her motivation. Rather than making a meal for Jesus, it seems she was trying to make a big deal about her service.
Might there be a bit of Martha within us? What begins as a desire to serve Christ metastasizes into an act of impressing people. And gifted Marthas become miserable mumblers. Yet the Martha within is not easily silenced. Mark it down. When ministry becomes vain ambition, nothing good happens. And Jesus does not get served. No wonder the apostle Paul was so insistent when he said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition” (Philippians 2:3).
