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Let us never forget the story of Mary and Martha. Martha had a bad habit of majoring in the minors, and she wanted to burden Mary with the same cumbersome life that she had created for herself. In Luke 10:40, she said to Jesus, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.” Jesus’ response would surprise many: “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.” (verses 41-42) In her efforts to care for “many things” Martha had neglected the most important thing. Furthermore, she wanted Mary to stop doing the most important thing and follow her bad example! In other words, the Lord was directing Mary’s life while Martha was giving place to the devil. Martha would, no doubt, claim that she had to do those “many things,” but the truth is that she chose to have a complicated life while Mary chose a simpler path. Should Mary also serve others to some degree? Yes, but not the way Martha did. Martha was a worry wart who didn’t know how to sit still and learn or enjoy simple Christian fellowship. She was probably up half the night getting the house ready for Jesus. Rather than give it a general cleaning and straightening, she probably vacuumed all the floors, mopped the kitchen and bathroom, dusted and polished all the furniture, made about eight trips to town for special food and supplies, and then she probably had at least three family members running errands for her because she was running behind. When Jesus came, she was a nervous wreck, yet Mary was relaxed and refreshed, and she enjoyed a good fellowship. I know a preacher who is a lot like Martha, but he has learned how to direct his energies in an appropriate way. He’ll drive you crazy, if you hang around him too long, because he’s such a perfectionist and so given to minute details. But this man is a fine Bible teacher because he also focuses on the details of God’s word. Lesson: If you can’t change the way you are, at least change the way you apply yourself. If you don’t, you will waste much of your life majoring in minor issues. Everyone will leave behind some unfinished tasks, but they don’t have to be the weightier tasks that Jesus commanded us to complete. Joshua, for instance, probably left lots of things undone, but ". . . he left nothing undone OF ALL THAT THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES." (Jsh. 11:15)