This weekend the children heard the account of Mary learning from Jesus. We also taught them that learning about Jesus helps us know how to live.

The New York Times reports something that we already know: Americans work long hours. The bottom line is that people today have about five hours of free time a day, and most of that time is spent watching television. The question that we raised this weekend was this: “with only five hours a day, can you make time to spend at Jesus’ feet learning?” In the Biblical account we read this weekend, Mary and Martha were faced with the same question.

Both Mary and Martha loved Jesus. He was coming to their house, and they were excited. Martha especially wanted everything to be perfect. The house had to be cleaned and Jesus’ favorite dishes must be prepared! Though Martha often gets a bad rap, her intentions were good. She was doing her best to be sure that everyone’s needs were met.

When Jesus arrived, Mary stopped and just sat at His feet. She wanted to learn, and listen to everything He had to say. Martha on the other hand continued to get busy and even got upset that her sister had stopped helping her. she even went to Jesus to complain and to ask Him to make Mary help her. Jesus did not, He knew that this was an important time of learning.

There can be no doubt that Jesus appreciated what Martha had done. However, He probably did not care if the house was spotless. He probably did not expect all His favorite dishes to be served, a simple meal would have been fine with Him. Jesus was more interested in having Mary’s and Martha’s time. He wanted them to focus on His teachings and not be distracted with busyness. Sometimes just like Martha, we can also miss this point.

Today we can still get busy doing things “for Jesus” and fail to learn from Jesus. We sometimes forget that Jesus does not only call us to serve; He first calls us to learn, to spend time in prayer, and to work on our personal relationship with Him. When we put that first, servant hood comes naturally, and without the stress or exhaustion that comes from service without learning.

Sometimes we as parents get bogged down in planning all sort of things for our children, and we tend to forget to plan time for them to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn. This week as you interact with your children, help them to see all there is to learn about Jesus. Pray that God will make your home a place where learning begins and never ends. Pray that God will instill in your children a love for learning more about Jesus.