Overcoming Cares, Part 2 - Mary's Good Choice

David W Palmer

(Mark 4:18–19 DKJV) “And these are they (the seeds) which are sown among thorns; [the thorny soil are the people who] hear the word, {19} And the cares of this world (life) … choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

Primarily, the battle with the “thorns” is the battle for focus. Let’s now look at some of the particulars of that battle, and how to overcome them.

We begin with a word of warning about “cares” given by our Lord Jesus:

(Luke 21:33–34 KJV) “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. {34} And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

Here, Jesus is sounding an alarm for the generation that will live at the time his return is imminent. The topic and context of this warning is his precious, enduring, absolute, eternal word; He says, “My words shall not pass away.” God’s words—the words that are eternally and absolutely enduring—are creative, life-giving, health-creating, and bring faith, light, and healing; they are:

The “sword of the spirit” (Eph. 6:17 NKJV)

The “word of his grace” (Acts 14:3, 20:32 NKJV)

The “word of his power”— “upholding all things” (Heb. 1:3 NKJV)

Nothing is more important for us, or of higher priority than God’s precious words. Jesus said that he sows them into the soil of our hearts; and he wants to see them prevail—coming to 100-fold harvest through our lives.

Jesus knows that God’s word is the only entity and force capable of bringing us through the end-time pressure successfully. Therefore, he cautions us about some of the things that can thwart its fruitfulness. In Luke 21:34 (above), our Lord lists three things that can overload our heart-soil—preventing the word reaching its maximum potential for helping us:

Surfeiting—the nausea and/or headache that accompanies gluttony or overindulgence

Drunkenness

The cares of this life

Jesus said that these three could “overload” or weigh down our hearts. Two of them are physical—drunkenness and gluttony: they dull the mind and reduce its sharp focus; they distract it by keeping its attention on the carnal matters of the body. They compete with the mind’s ability to stay focused on God’s word and to meditate on it.

The third thing he mentions is the “cares of this life.” This is simply ordinary everyday worry and anxiety. Jesus is clearly reiterating his earlier warning that commonplace everyday concern is a distraction from the main game. He says it will overload, burden, and weigh down the heart:

(Mark 4:18 DKJV) “And these are they (the seeds) which are sown among thorns …”

We certainly don’t need the soil of our hearts to be overtaxed by growing thorns. We need our heart-soil totally available for, and solely focused on, growing God’s word. Remember, the thorns are a symbol of the curse (See: Gen. 3:17–18).

Religion and [even] society look on gluttony and drunkenness disparagingly. However, cares, worry, and anxiety are more readily accepted—and even expected. At times, others feel we are irresponsible if we don’t “care” and worry about certain things—things like their perception of our responsibilities. For example, the disciples thought that Jesus should “care” about the storm that was distracting their minds from obeying his word:

(Mark 4:37–38 MKJV) And there arose a windstorm, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was now full. {38} And He was in the stern of the boat, asleep on a headrest. And they awakened Him and said to Him, “Master, do You not care that we perish?”

Martha thought that Jesus should care that her sister, Mary, wasn’t helping in the kitchen; she believed that her sister should be focused on what captivated her own attention, instead of sitting at Jesus’s feet. Yet, Jesus refused to be distracted by Martha’s expectation that he “care”:

(Luke 10:38–42 EMTV) Now it came to pass as they traveled, that He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. {39} And the woman had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’s feet and was listening to His word. {40} But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” {41} And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. {42} But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

The scene described here reveals much about how “cares” distract us from God’s preferred focus: Mary sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to his word—this is where the issues of life emanate (Prov. 4:20–23); this is the source of solutions; this is where the word that brings life, healing, grace, wisdom, creativity, correction, etc. originates. Mary focused herself on what is truly and eternally important; she was “seeking first the Kingdom of God.” In response, Jesus said, “Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

However, on the surface, Mary looked like the irresponsible one; she was reclining—the picture of one resting in Christ. Meanwhile, Martha looked to be responsible; she was busy doing her hostess duties—preparing food and serving it—the picture of self-dependent provision, albeit seemingly noble.

Martha was doing what would normally be considered the female host’s responsibility in their tradition. Yet despite cultural and courteous norms, in God’s eyes Martha’s priorities were wrong whereas Mary’s were right. After all, Jesus could have fed the whole crowd gathered that day with a few small bread rolls and a couple of small fish.

Revealing her troubled and divided heart further, Martha came to Jesus and asked for something. This was her prayer: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

This not only revealed the weedy state of her heart—full of the distraction of care—but also a manipulative approach to prayer. Her focus on her “cares” took her eyes and ears off the Lord Jesus and his words. This meant that she wasn’t receiving faith, the flow of life, and the grace needed to enable her to walk in true, unadulterated love.

Therefore, when she approached Jesus; instead of coming with overflowing love and faith, she came in rejection and frustration—from failed religious efforts to impress him. This was obviously an overflow of the darkness that is always present when no light is entering. This in turn resulted in a manipulative prayer that tried to get him, not only to worry himself, but also to help her in her attempts to impress him (and alleviate her anxious guilty feelings) with her [religious] self-effort.

Cut off from the light of Jesus’s vision coming in, Martha’s request was aimed at fulfilling her own vision—which proved to be the exact opposite of our Lord’s vision: she wanted Mary to be distracted by cares and disengaged from Jesus like she was. Whereas Jesus wanted them both to ignore the cares, and to be focused totally on God’s manna from heaven.

Martha had lost sight of the truth that Jesus is Lord; so she tried to take over that role herself, directing him: “Tell her to help me.” Of course, Jesus didn’t grant this directive/request; instead, he pointed her to what he believes is at the zenith of life’s priorities:

(Luke 10:41–42 EMTV) And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. {42} But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Jesus is the greatest teacher, with the greatest content ever; he contains the correct view of God, the universe, and the way things work. Only he can reveal how to succeed in receiving blessing and kingdom fruit. That day, he said that Mary had chosen wisely—and that he would not stop her; she sat at his feet and heard his words—seemingly ignoring the culturally enforced everyday worries, cares, and distractions.

Obviously Mary loved him, and like “those around him with the twelve,” she recognized the opportunity of a lifetime. Mary realized that no other place was more important, and that no other priority was more urgent than sitting at Jesus’s feet, drinking in his life-giving words.

At the risk of repeating myself, I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to ask you again: “Do you recognize what Mary recognized? Do you prioritize what she prioritized? Are you prepared to go against peer pressure, family expectation, religious manipulation, and cultural norms to pursue what Jesus considers the “one thing” that is “needed”? And do you fully accept that ordinary, everyday worries, cares, anxieties, and pressures that divide your focus onto other things are the enemy; they are cursed thorns that operate in direct opposition to God’s kingdom seeds coming to harvest through your life?”

In steering Martha in God’s direction, Jesus mentioned worry. Worry, anxiety, and care are all in the same category; they are pseudo priorities that distract and overload the mind—keeping it from having its sole focus on God’s omnipotent word. Let’s do it again today; let’s cast all—that is, every single one of—our cares on him by praying about everything. Do it now! Then give your best time and focus to sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to his word.