There seems to have been a flurry of picture sharing on Facebook in the last week or so. Among all the pictures, one in particular stood out for me:

Jesus has quite a lot to say about worry and anxiety. It’s amazing that we don’t focus on this teaching very much. This morning I heard the story of Martha and Mary on the Pray as you go Podcast. I was encouraged to think about what it was that Martha got wrong that Jesus seems to ‘rebuke’ her for. I thought and realised that the essence of it is that Jesus is telling her “don’t worry”:

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41, 42 NIV)

The passage also mentions that Martha is ‘distracted’.

When our gaze is distracted from Jesus we get stressed and worried!

So it’s right that Jesus seems so harsh with Martha – he’s trying to hammer home the point about how destructive worry is – he loves her too much not to challenge her.

How often do we really hear these words of Jesus?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25, 27, 34 NIV)