“…You have left your first love.” Revelations 2:4
Dear Ones:
If there is one thing that is impossible to do, it is to understand and comprehend God. In Bimney’s great hymn, “Eternal Light! Eternal Light!, he illustrates this point: “Oh, how shall I whose native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, Before the Ineffable appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated beam?” Bimney had a glimpse of himself in comparison with the Eternal Light, God in Christ, and with regard to the sphere in which he lived, and his mind which was so small and dim. In light of such a stark, almost incomparable contrast, how can we begin to KNOW God in the Lord Jesus? How shall we traverse the void of our ignorance and “night,” to grasp something of the Divine, and begin to know this One who “…loved me and gave Himself for me?”
It has been said that, “…life reduced to fellowship with Christ, makes the complicated simple.” That which is Eternal, and “complicated,” because it is so vast, and we are so limited, becomes, in some measure, blessedly possible by virtue of one thing. It has to do with the truth and depth of the relationship between God and man. In the book of the Revelation, we see that this relationship between God and man is revealed by the Lord’s own words: “…You have left your first love.” Man was created to love God, and this, whole-heartedly. He was given the power to do so at Pentecost, when the Spirit of God (Spirit of power and love…), was poured out upon all flesh, making such a relationship possible for all in the world. Why then do we see so little of such a relationship in the world, and perhaps, experience it much less? The answer lies in a home where Jesus is staying. It is a simple setting, where two sisters, who love the Lord, are seen receiving the Lord and His disciples. It is in their response to Jesus’ “words,” His teaching, that we discover the answer to our question. Personal communion with God is the “first thing,” the one, lasting essential.
Martha was certainly of a very energetic, practical temperament, as we see her serving those who were gathered there in her home. Mary, on the contrary, seems to be more reserved, certainly more focused on being with the Lord than preoccupied with serving. We see Martha, “cumbered about much serving,” and Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet, hearing His words. Martha is anxious, burdened by the service at hand. Mary is hanging on every word that proceeds out of the Lord’s mouth. Graciously confronting Martha, the Lord tells here that she is basically preoccupied with that which causes her to be full of care, and thus troubled. Her sister, on the contrary, has made a choice, one that “will not be taken away from her,” one which has eternal, everlasting, ramifications or effects. What is that choice? It is the choice to make communion with Christ the highest priority of her life. What are the elements of this communion? We first see Mary, “…seated at Jesus’ feet.” Mary is not only receptive to what Jesus is saying, but she is submitted and teachable. She is there to HEAR what the Lord says, as opposed to every other voice. She has discovered what Peter would declare: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Secondly, Mary is focused on the “words” of Christ. It is by His words that the knowledge of eternal truth is heard, known, and understood. By those words not only comes the faith to believe, but the power to live. There is LIFE in those words, and by these words Mary desires to live. Martha was very earnest in what she was doing in her service to others, but she was not dominated by the personal communion with Christ, in submission and faith, living to hear His words, and living BY those words. Communion with Christ is the “one thing needful.”
Dear Father, Please give us a vision of what You prize most, a loving heart and teachable spirit, fellowship with Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad