Priorities of the KingdomSample

OBEDIENCE COMES BEFORE MINISTERING

MAIN IDEAS

• JESUS asserts that in the order set in His KINGDOM obedience comes before service.

• Serving emphasizes what we do for God while obedience emphasizes our relationship with God.

For Martha, serving was a priority, in order to ensure that her guests were fed a good meal. Judging by human logic, in that context, this was her priority for the moment. Martha pleads with JESUS to urge Mary to help her, but instead, JESUS explains a priority of the KINGDOM: listening takes priority over service. It might seem that JESUS is unsympathetic towards Marta, especially since she is serving JESUS and the disciples. But JESUS is not even biased toward Himself when it comes to the teachings of the KINGDOM. Serving emphasizes what we can do while listening emphasizes God. Even now, apprentices often prioritize service to the detriment of obedience, being open to doing various charitable services such as helping the needy, covering losses, or fulfilling religious obligations. Serving is a good thing in itself, but it cannot make up for obedience. When we expect our efforts in service and our good deeds to compensate for our failure to sit at JESUS’ feet and have a close relationship with Him – fully obeying His plan and will – the priority JESUS asks for gets demoted, as per “Martha’s order of things”.