Luke10:38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but few things are needed—or indeed only one.f Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

One day as our Lord came to a certain village, a sister named Martha received Him into her home. She loved our Lord and wanted to do many things for Him in order to please Him. She did this and that; she prepared this thing and that thing. She did many things, but then she became disturbed. Not only was she disturbed, she also worried about many things, and her mind was troubled. Martha, like those who are ill at ease, sought to blame others by going to the Lord and saying, "Lord, does it not matter to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to do her part with me" (Luke 10:40). But the Lord answered, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; but there is need of one thing, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (vv. 41-42). Oh, the Lord said that only one thing is needed! Martha did many things, but the Lord said that there was need of only one thing. We plan one thing after another and do one thing after another. It seems that we have planned many things and done much, yet there is need of only one thing! There are not many needful things; there is only one thing which is needful!
Brothers and sisters, what is the one thing that is needful? It is nothing other than Christ Himself—this is what Mary chose. We can have this needful thing only by sitting quietly before the Lord as Mary did. Every Christian should work, and it is wrong if anyone does not work. The Bible tells us that the man who will not work should not eat (2 Thes. 3:10). We should work diligently. However, we often find no rest within when we work; we may even feel that we have forgotten the Lord. Sometimes we are so busy from morning till evening that we do not find time for prayer or Bible reading before the Lord. When we labor, do some spiritual work, or give assistance to a brother or sister, our motive is for the Lord, yet eventually we become distracted; our heart is disturbed. The problem is that there are too many things that cause us to forget the Lord and let Him go. Let us listen to the Lord, who is telling us that only one thing is needful! This very thing is to have rest in the Lord and to be content in Him.