A Visit at Martha's House, part 13:

But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42 NASB)

There is a beautiful piece of wisdom here, and I don't want us to miss it. Martha, Jesus said, was worried about many things, but Mary had chosen the one thing that was necessary. What Mary had chosen, of course, was the Word of God, made flesh and sitting before her. She had chosen Jesus and His truth. This word translated as "necessary" is chreia, and can also be translated as "needed". Vine's Expository Dictionary tells us "This need represents a gap in the life which the wise word 'builds up', fills up solidly and surely." 

What Jesus was telling Martha was that there is a place in our life that needs filling, and neither many worries nor the many things about which we worry can fill it. It is that God-shaped void about which Pascal wrote. Only the wise words of God, only our Lord, can fill that vacant place, and fill it solidly and surely. 

For those of us who have sampled far too much of the world, perhaps that truth bears repeating.  

Only God can fill that vacant place in our hearts, and fill it both solidly and surely.

There is no elegant dining experience, no designer clothing, no fancy car, no gigantic house, no exciting or passionate relationship, no lovely home furnishings or near-perfect children that can fill our vacant places. Only God can fill that empty, lonely place, and when we understand that foundational truth, we will begin to make better choices. Those things that have occupied us and divided our heart become of limited value when our heart is solidly filled with the Word of God. How does that happen? We make the choice to allow the filling. We open our Bibles and read, study, memorize. 

If we still have a vacant, lonely place that needs filling, it is because we have not yet allowed God to fill our emptiness. Dear ones, offer that emptiness to the only One who can fill us completely, to the only One who can satisfy and immerse yourself in His words, His truth, His love. Let Him fill you completely, for only He can satisfy.