Daily Devotional April 29 - There Are Martha Things and Mary Things

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that He (Jesus) entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

There's no need to over-spiritualize these sentiments. The main point that Jesus was making was that: In the presence of God, you should focus, be quiet and listen. I would say in modern terms it could mean that you would:
Plan your day to include getting all your chores completed, but not to exclude private time with the Lord, which might include:

• Turn off the background TV. You think you need it on, but that's only conditioning.
• Step away from you computer, whether you are on the Internet or just working on something.
• Don't answer the phone. We've become phone addicts. Whatever it is in most cases it can wait.
• Plan to do whatever you have to do to get away with God alone for a time.

Then:

• Read the word undisturbed
• Ask Jesus some questions that you need answered
• Pray for a bit and listen carefully as God speaks into your heart

You will have plenty of time to do all the other/Martha things. There will always be plenty of Martha things to do. But it is just as important to do the Mary things."