Evening, January 24
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Luke 10:40
"Martha was cumbered about much serving."
Luke 10:40
Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant well
becomes every Christian. "I serve," should be the motto of all the
princes of the royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she
had "much serving." We cannot do too much. Let us do all that we
possibly can; let head, and heart, and hands, be engaged in the
Master's service. It was no fault of hers that she was busy preparing a
feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of
entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the spirit to
throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement. Her fault was
that she grew "cumbered with much serving," so that she forgot him, and
only remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion,
and so presented one duty stained with the blood of another. We ought
to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much
communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier
to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the
Amalekites; but Moses, on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two
helpers to sustain his hands. The more spiritual the exercise, the
sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits are the hardest to rear: the
most heavenly graces are the most difficult to cultivate. Beloved,
while we do not neglect external things, which are good enough in
themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living, personal
fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviour's feet is
not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing
him service. The first thing for our soul's health, the first thing for
his glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep
ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that
the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above
everything else in the world.