Luke 10:38–42 (NKJV)

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 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.”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha is a perfectly good servant of the Lord, but isn’t seeing with Christian eyes, so she’s focused on the wrong things. She’s distracted with much serving, none of which really needs to be done. What’s she worried about? Jesus just fed five thousand people. Her house may be packed, but it’s not that packed.

Jesus is teaching. And what would He be teaching about?

The kingdom, of course. He might be teaching that the kingdom is at hand. Or he might be telling a parable that begins with “The kingdom of heaven is like …” So, what is Martha distracted from?

It’s not just that she’s distracted from Jesus’s teaching.

Martha’s distracted from the kingdom.

This leads to what might be the most difficult teaching about Christian eyes—distraction. Our eyes are for the essential functions of everyday living, and when we get distracted (e.g., while driving) things can go very wrong.

Christian eyes add a new level of perception. Notice also that this, like our regular vision, is a mental function. We don’t have extra eyeballs; we have extra pattern recognition software. Christian eyes see the kingdom and see all things in terms of the kingdom. We see God’s providence, sometimes even His plans.

But this is where distraction kicks in. Christian eyes see who’s in control, but distractions can cause us to revert to regular eyes. Some distractions are very distracting.

Martha’s house was packed like never before. She’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off in a panic about how to properly host such a massive crowd. Martha may have Christian eyes, but she’s distracted by the stress of a situation she’s not used to.

But nothing is as distracting as the stress of pain or danger. Peter has Christian eyes but got distracted by the accusations that he was with Jesus (Matthew 26:69–73, Mark 14:66–71, Luke 22:56–60, John 18:25–27) and he denied Him three times.

More on that tomorrow as Matt begins the first weekend series — “Guilt Trips.”

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.