LISTENING TO THE LORD’S WORD AND KNOWING HIS DESIRE When the Lord came to Bethany, Martha received Him and served Him. However, Martha served the Savior according to her own concept and understanding. She thought that after making a long journey the Lord wanted to be served with material things. Therefore, she was busy in doing many things for the Man-Savior. Do you think that when the Lord came into Martha’s home in Bethany His desire was to be served with material things? To be sure, it was not His desire to be served with food. On the contrary, His desire was that His saved ones would listen to Him in order to know what was on His heart. The Lord did not care about eating; He wanted those who loved Him to be silent, to sit with Him, to listen to Him, and to concentrate on His speaking. In this way they would know His desire and preference. In 10:39 Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His word. Later, she prepared ointment to anoint Him before His death. How did Mary know to do this? I believe she came to know this through listening to the Savior’s speaking. By sitting at the Savior’s feet and listening to His word, she came to know His desire and preference. Today many are busy trying to get saved. They think that salvation depends on what they do. But there is no need for us to do anything to be saved. In order for a person to be saved, he needs to realize that he is incapable of saving himself, for he, like the man in the parable of the good Samaritan, is one who has been stripped, beaten, and left half dead. This indicates that we all need a Savior, One who is full of compassion and love. When we realize the Savior’s compassion and love, we shall enjoy His saving grace, which is full of human virtues and divine attributes. This is what it means to be saved. Although there is no need for us to do anything to be saved, fallen man thinks that he must do many things for his salvation. Therefore, we would emphasize the fact that there is no need for us to do anything to be saved. Once we have been convinced by the Savior’s compassion and love and are saved, we may try to do many things for the Lord. We may think that now that we love Him we should be busy doing things for Him. I have never met a saved person who does not have the thought of doing things for the Lord. Every saved person I know has the concept of working for the Lord. In recent months certain ones told me that since the Lord is blessing His recovery, we should be busy doing various things. Some proposed that we set up schools, and others, that we establish hospitals. Others suggested that we be busy with different kinds of activities. When I heard these proposals, I said to myself, “I do not have any burden for these things. I am not burdened to set up schools or hospitals. When I hear such proposals, my desire is simply to rest with the Lord. I don’t believe the Lord wants us to be busy in this way.” In 10:38-42 Martha was very busy in many directions, and she was trying to make the Lord busy. She saw the situation involving the Lord and her sister, Mary. Mary was not doing anything. She was simply sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to His word, and the Lord seemed to appreciate Mary’s silence. This bothered Martha and she even gave the Lord a command: “Tell her that she should do her part with me.” Here Martha seemed to be saying, “Lord, don’t You realize that I’m very busy? Why, then, don’t You tell my sister to do something to help me?” Today most of the Lord’s saved ones are busy trying to serve Him. They may also be trying to make the Savior busy. But those who know the Lord and who know His desire and preference would say, “Don’t be so busy. The Lord wants to rest. The most precious thing to Him is not that you work for Him or try to do things for Him. What is most precious to Him is that you sit with Him and silently listen to His word. If you sit with the Lord and listen to His word, you will know His desire and preference.” Reference : Life-Study of Luke, Chapter 25( by Witness Lee )
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:33:37 +0000