Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

When I've read this in the past, I've tended to side with Martha a lot. I've had jobs and other things where people haven't carried their own, so it's easy to see why she was frustrated. She thought that in keeping busy and working, Jesus would accept her. But then I look at Mary. She, before, was the one that I couldn't understand. It bugged me that she wasn't helping because I completely missed the point. Instead of being worried, she had the faith of a child. She immediately sat down and listened to what Jesus had to say. Mary didn't care about the state of her house or the distractions around her. All she wanted was to sit at the feet of her Savior and listen to his words. Martha was more worried about the appearance of herself and her house to Jesus, getting 'distracted with much serving'.
Right here, in such a short passage, the character of Jesus is shown! He isn't harsh with Martha when she complains about the sister she thinks is just being lazy; he speaks to her heart, gently, directly. Jesus says Martha's name twice, just like you would to someone that simply didn't understand. He sees into her soul. Her anxieties and troubles are keeping her from relaxing and soaking in his words--it isn't just the serving. Martha's heart wasn't bad, it was just in the wrong place. She was anxious where Mary was willing to lay it down at the feet of Jesus and just listen.

I think that in some ways I am a lot like Martha, that we can all be a lot like Martha. It is easy, living in this world, to let our anxieties keep us from being STILL before God. Martha also felt like she had to do do do before Jesus would accept her. Instead, he told her to put off everything and just listen to him. It was more important, and is always more important, to be with Jesus. After that we can serve him, gladly and in a refreshed state. Like it says in Hosea, God doesn't want our sacrifices, he just wants us to KNOW Him. How beautiful! Let's all strive to be Mary.