Young girls between 11 to 13 years are very zealous to learn something new. It may be a new way of styling the hair or getting a new recipe to cook. So is she – yes I am talking about Raaga, a young girl from our Church. She desires to learn cooking and make an impact. She firmly believes this way she can help her mother during her holidays by reducing her work in the kitchen & for sure, she would get the needed recognition she has been looking for. She is zealous, energetic & focused to achieve something in her newfound hobby. Her mother and her grandmother have been amazing cooks in their capacity. So that makes her believe she can continue the tradition & indeed make a mark in this area.
Today, before we could begin the morning devotion, the Holy Spirit stirred up my heart, that I should speak to Raaga regarding this thought in her heart & put a Biblical perspective in to her mind. We started the devotion with a word of prayer & turned our Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10:38-42. Here is captured a beautiful story of two sisters. They both had a desire to serve Jesus but their servings “contrasted”. One was serving Jesus by cooking food and setting the table & the other was serving Jesus by just sitting at His feet & hearing Him speak.
Here is the passage for you from NKJV.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not 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 will not be taken away from her.”
The first principle we learn here is- Serving –be it of any kind, is good, but it’s no good when done at the cost of “not spending time with Jesus”.
Jesus commended Mary of choosing the ‘good part’. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and “hear” Him first, before she could get into any kind of serving or cooking with her elder sister Martha.
This principle helped little Raaga to understand that before she attempts to be an excellent cook, she needs to have her quiet time early in the morning at the feet of the Master. “Hearing from God” would make her fit for any kind of service later in the day. As she trusts the Holy Spirit and hears Him, she would be enabled to cook the most delicious food and serve others. The Lord can make her creative of many new recipes as she depends upon Him.
We see in the verse 38 that it was Martha who invited Jesus to her house to serve Him.
“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.”
It was Martha who took the initiative to invite Jesus & honor Him. Despite of her good gesture she missed out on getting commendation from Jesus. She did not choose the good part. We may have questions-“ Is cooking not important”, “Was Martha not acting as a good host”.
Yes, certainly she was. But anything done at the expense of inviting and ignoring the Master becomes of no value.
I visit many homes for prayer meeting. Many families are kind enough to prepare meals to serve us after the service. Praise God for their love. But it pains to see the lady of the house more focused on the kitchen even when the Word is being preached in the house. Remember Jesus has to be First & He has to be the last in our lives. He is the Alpha & the Omega.
Verse 39, “And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.”
It states clearly that Mary was Martha’s sister who also sat at Jesus’ feet. Which implies that initially Martha sat at Jesus’ feet but quickly lost her patience, as the focus for her was serving the food & not Jesus.
**Serving as the bone of contention.**
Most of the families struggle to get peace in the kitchen, especially where there is more than one woman in the house. The better cook is always upset with the lesser one as she feels the latter is wasting much time in the things of the Lord when so much work is pending. Same thing happened in Martha & Mary’s house.
Verse 40, “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
Martha was distracted because her focus was serving which made her get upset with Mary & then with Jesus. Martha had made serving as her idol. She could not tolerate her serving not getting importance. She went straight to Jesus and started rebuking & scolding Him. “Lord, do You not care?”. These were the words of Martha to the Maker of heaven & earth.
In our families when serving or cooking becomes our idol, the first thing we do is we start rebuking Jesus (by murmuring in our hearts) without realizing how grievous is the sin. We reach to such hardening of hearts, that we can’t tolerate the Mary’s spending time at the feet of Jesus.
Then comes the next serious sin, we start suggesting Jesus what to do – as Martha did “Therefore tell her to help me”. How displeasing it would be to command Jesus to command someone else to leave Him, His very presence and get into the kitchen. Sorry, but this becomes the real state of a man or woman who has made his ‘serving’ important than his or her King. No wonder so many Christian families have lost their peace, because they did not choose the good part of keeping Jesus first. Raaga has been instructed through this Word to always keep Jesus first before she serves or she cooks.
The Bible talks about eating & drinking to the glory of God.
1Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
If it is possible to eat & drink to the glory of God, then it must be possible to cook to the glory of God. Raaga learnt that she can cook to the glory of God by keeping Jesus first. Yes, first even in her cooking. She would not attempt cooking without taking the Masters help. If she does thing on her own, very soon the attack of discouragements would drown her in sorrow or negativity. If someone does not likes her cooking or gives her a negative feedback she would breakdown emotionally. But if she chooses to cook or serve to the glory of God, then what ever may be the feedback of men, she would know that she has pleased her LORD.
Tasty Food
Raaga learnt that she can add the best of the spices to the food, but it is the Lord who adds the taste. Whenever she would depend on the Lord & the Holy Spirit, taste would surely be added.
John 2:9-10, “ When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
The passage above assures us when Jesus makes something to eat or drink it has to be the most tasteful thing. He is the Creator – HALLELUJAH!
So dear friends, Raaga is up on her way to cook her first meal & I believe if she keeps the right perspective in place there is no stopping for her. She would receive much appreciation from millions if she keeps her Lord Jesus first. On the last Day she may even have the appreciation of her Lord, who would say the least you did for any one of them you did it for Me.
May the Lord bless you as you read this article & plan to practice this.
Please keep Raaga in your prayers, that she may be rooted & grounded in God’s Word & her cooking would always be to the glory of God.
Blessings,
Pastor Mohit
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