We read in the Bible about two sisters named Mary and Martha, and their brother, Lazarus. The members of this family were close personal friends of our Savior’s and He came to visit them whenever he was in Bethany. On one memorable visit, Mary sat at His feet while He taught the principles of everlasting life. Martha was busy in the kitchen, preparing the evening meal, and felt as though Mary should be helping her. When Martha spoke to Christ about this, we all remember His response, that Mary had chosen the better part.
Women of the Church have thought about this story and compared themselves to either Mary or Martha, vowing to pay more attention to the “better part,” that is, the gospel and our testimonies of Jesus Christ. As I’ve analyzed myself, trying to determine where I fit in, I realize I’m not so much Mary and I’m not so much Martha. I am that oft-overlooked sister in the story, Betty Sue.
She wasn’t preparing the food and she wasn’t listening to Christ—she was running from thing to thing, checking her email (or whatever the ancient Israeli form of email might have been) and fully meaning to go sit with Mary, or help Martha, but she had to change the laundry first, and then sew on a button, and . . . and . . . by the time she got into the other room, the meal was served, everyone had left, and she was standing there with her mouth open, wondering how time could have flown like that. She had every intention of listening to the sermon, and she really did mean to help with the dishes. But all the other demands of life caught her attention, and she was stuck in a maelstrom of the mundane.
Neal A. Maxwell talked about temptation and how it comes from a very real source. A good person won’t immediately succumb to a large sin right off the bat, but the adversary will sneak in a little at a time with tiny sins, and once he gets us to partake of those, he can then start tempting us with larger things. One of Satan’s biggest tools is distraction. If he can get us too busy doing good things to do the great things, he can keep us distracted from accomplishing those things we’re supposed to be doing.
What Betty Sue needed, and what I need, is to reign in all those stray thoughts and focus on the priorities. What good will I be to my family if I’ve fainted from hunger, having forgotten to eat while I sewed on buttons? Or if I’m not dressed at three in the afternoon because I was checking my email?
On the days when I make my relationship with my Savior a top priority, I find everything else easier to tackle. On the days when I allow myself to stray from those first moments of study and prayer, the rest spins out of control.
So what’s a Betty Sue to do? She, and I, should sit down in the morning and devote a few minutes to connecting with our Savior. As we do this, we can dedicate the rest of the day to doing the things we know He would want us to do, and we’ll find a new meaning and focus to our days. We’ll find our footsteps guided. We’ll find time to sit at the feet of Christ and to help with the meal. It’s all important, as long as we do it in the right order, recognizing that emails will wait and so will the laundry. It might not feel like it at the time, but it will wait.
Related Blogs:
Young Mothers: Don’t Overschedule