WHILE THE WORD OF GOD IS IMPORTANT....

I have spent the last several days writing about the importance of God's Word. I have spent countless hours sitting in classes studying the Bible, and I definitely do not regret one second of that time. Knowledge of the Scriptures is of the utmost importance if you want to know God's will in order to do it. Otherwise, it is a total waste of time. James wrote about the foolishness of reading the Bible, and then failing to apply its wisdom to one's life (Jam. 1:22-27). Knowledge, for knowledge sake, is nothing more than a source of pride (1 Cor. 8:1). As I wrote yesterday, the Word is "God's "owner's manual" for Christian living. Perhaps I should have said, "Man's service manual." However, both are true.

The Bible often tells us of things that took place historically. In Luke, we can read about the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus (Lk. 10:38-42). The two sisters are shown to have different priorities; one wanted to listen to the Lord teach, and the other wanted to show hospitality to their guests. Jesus tells Martha that she worried too much about serving, and that her sister had chosen to do that which was of greater importance.

I have heard preachers suggest that Martha was worldly, while Mary was spiritual, and if one were to take this passage alone, I can see where they might have interpreted it that way. However, when we study the Bible, it is always necessary to read individual passages in light of the teaching of the entire Bible. Over and over, God tells believers that He does not want man's priority to be "religious," but that serving others is to be our priority (compare Mic. 6:6-8 with Jam. 1:22-27 as an example). Other passages tell us of God's priority for our lives (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:43-48; 7:12; 22:40; Rom. 13:8-10; 1 Thes. 3:11-13; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Jn. 3:23).

I believe Martha's problem was her failure to understand Mary's need to hear Jesus. Martha's faith was already stronger than Mary's, as can be seen from their response to the "late arrival" of Jesus at the grave of Lazarus (Jn. 11:1-44). Notice that Mary's response to Jesus was "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother (would not have) died" (Jn. 11:32). Martha, on the other hand, believed that even though her brother had died, Jesus was able to bring him back to life (Jn. 11:21-22).

Studying God's Word is extremely important, and whenever possible, it should be viewed as our top priority. However, there are degrees of spiritual maturity, and therefore, there are different "schedules of feeding." A baby eats at least eight times a day, while an adult need only eat two or three times. Babies require the "milk of the Word," while mature Christians should be eating the "meat" (1 Cor. 3:1-2; Heb. 5:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:2). Based upon this, mature Christians should be the ones serving during church services, while the "babes" should be "getting fed" by the pastor. Mature Christians understand Philippians 2:14. Keep your priorities straight when it comes to being "spiritual."