woman – Ericka O Smith

Meet Martha of Bethany

He Qi's "Martha & Mary" in The Life of Jesus series is available here. — He Qi’s “Martha & Mary” in The Life of Jesus series is available here.

Martha, Martha…

I have known both Mary & Martha all of my life. I have always thought of Martha as the poor, misunderstood, responsible sister of the lazy, irresponsible Mary. I always felt that I could relate to Martha, that I understood where she was coming from in doing all the necessary things one does when one offers hospitality. I “got” her irritation with Mary, who was just sitting there doing nothing. I felt the sting of Jesus’ words as if He’d spoken them to me when He gently chastised her and praised lazy Mary.

After spending a week with Mary, connecting with and understanding her like I never have before, my entire perception of her changed. And I mean completely and utterly changed. I wondered if I’d had it wrong all these years where Martha was concerned, as well, so I asked Martha for some one-on-one time and she graciously invited me to spend a week with her in Bethany.

I still share a lot of commonalities with Martha. I have a do-er personality. I have a keen sense of duty, of doing the “right” thing (even if it is too often accompanied with the wrong attitude). I get upset with others when they don’t do what I think they should. My sense of justice oftentimes leads me to ask the Lord to make things right when I feel I’ve been wronged by someone, to take my grievance directly to Him.

Against the newly painted backdrop of her sister, Martha’s shortcomings (and my own!) shine brighter than before. But like the saying goes, We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. (Can I get an “Amen!”?) And tucked amid all of the character flaws that we share, Martha displayed something that I feel shamefully lacking in my own life – a beautiful, teachable heart.

Listening to her testimony again, I realized that Martha didn’t repeat the same mistake twice. I want to have such a teachable heart! I want to receive His Words to me and have them “stick” like that. I want to respond to His chastening as quickly and wholeheartedly as Martha did. I want to be sensitive to His teaching. I want to be changed by obeying His Word. I want to share that positive character trait with Martha, as well.

If your heart desires the same, I invite you to visit Martha in Bethany this week. Click here to spend some one-on-one time with Martha of Bethany.

It’s almost here!

The Summer Bible Study starts on Monday!

Every Monday during June, July & August, you will meet a new woman from the Word accompanied by a link to a FREE downloadable 1-week study guide specific to her. Print the six-page guide and start connecting. It’s that simple!

Questions? Please leave a comment and I will answer your questions ASAP.

A Valuable Gift – a short devotional

Genesis 2:22 – The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

Growing up, I loved looking at the illustrations in my Bible. The stories recorded in the pages of Scripture sprang to life through the illustrations. They became the pictures I see in my minds-eye as I read and reread the Word.

As I was reading about the creation of Eve this morning, my mind was taken back to my childhood and one such illustration. This morning, however, my eyes focused more on the text than the picture in my head and I noticed something new. After God created Eve from the rib he had taken from Adam,

He brought her to the man.

In my mind, I have always seen God creating Eve right next to a sleeping Adam just like my Bible illustrations. This, however – this made me wonder. Did the picture in my head distort the reality of the event?

And then I wondered, Did God intend Eve to be a gift to Adam, bringing her to him like one would present a valuable present?

I love this illustration much better than the one I had in my head all these years. You can almost hear God making the introductions - "Adam, this is Eve. Eve, meet Adam." The Creation of Eve by William Blake is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. — I love this pencil illustration much better than the one I had in my head all these years. I can almost hear God making the introductions – “Adam, this is Eve. Eve, meet Adam.” ***The Creation of Eve*** by William Blake is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

PONDER: Could your husband honestly describe you as a gift to him from the hands of God? What is keeping you from answering with a resounding ‘Yes!’?

A Valuable Gift is one of thirty devotionals I’ve been asked to write this year as part of a friend’s year-long devotional project. You can read more short devotionals like this by clicking here or the Devotionals tab at the top of this page.