Division

I did ok with math when I was in school. I was able to keep up with it until my teacher introduced division; that’s when things began to change. Long division and I never got along. Fortunately I no longer have to worry about taking a math test. I’ve come to learn that division is not just bad when it comes to homework, but to life in general. 

In Luke 10 Jesus visited the house of his friends, siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Jesus was causally talking and teaching everyone in the room, which included Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and hung on His every word. In the other room, Martha was frantically busying herself making arrangements. Food had to be prepared, the kitchen was a dump, and where were all these disciples going to sleep? Exasperated, Martha interrupted Jesus and demanded that He tell Mary to give her a hand with the chores. 

Jesus responded, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things (Luke 10:41).” When we hear that word worried we might think of someone is stressing over the unknown, but it actually has a different meaning. The Greek word means, “part, portion, or division.” Martha was at her wit’s end because her mind was so divided. On the one hand, she no doubt loved Jesus every bit as Mary did and would have loved to sit at Jesus’ feet as well; on the other hand, she knew there was much to take care of around the house. To be fair to Mary, she probably had no problem helping her sister; she wasn’t being lazy, but neither was she divided.

Mary made up her mind that the most important thing she could do in that moment was sit and listen to Jesus. Martha’s mind was divided, and she ended up making the wrong choice. Every day, and especially on Sundays, we have a choice to make. We can worship Jesus in spirit and truth, or we can allow our minds to be divided and focus on a million other things. We can tune out the world in order to pray, sing, study, or serve, or we can allow the things of this world to take center stage in our minds. Have you ever tried to worship and worry at the same time? Can you effectively worship and daydream? If our minds are divided we might as well stop trying to worship because we are wasting our time.

God wants our undivided attention, so we need to set aside time—as well as distractions—and worship Him.