While Martha served Jesus unsparingly, her sister Mary sat at His feet, listening and learning. Commenting on this situation, Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–92) wrote, “We should do much service and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune.”

I once met a young mother who found the grace to do both. She hungered after God and His Word and was immersed deeply in family life each day. One day an idea came to her. In each room she placed paper and a pencil. As she served the Lord throughout the day in her home, she also kept herself open to God. Whenever a Scripture came to mind or something to confess or to pray about, she jotted it on the nearest pad of paper. In the evening after the children were asleep, she gathered her pieces of paper and pondered them prayerfully.

This woman found a way to be Martha and Mary at the same time. May we too discover ways to both serve God and commune with Him.