Picture a house on a Sunday before the family lunch. The rice and peas are on, the chicken is in the oven, someone has gone to buy ice, and the table still needs setting. Aunties are arriving. The woman of the house is everywhere at once, sweating, directing, tasting, apologising for the state of the verandah. By the time everyone sits down, she is too tired to enjoy any of it.
Many households live like that all week. Not just on Sundays, but every day: work, school runs, church meetings, extra lessons, the WhatsApp group that never goes quiet, the list of repairs that never gets shorter. The house is full of activity and strangely empty of rest.
A dinner in Bethany
Luke tells of Jesus visiting the home of two sisters (Luke 10:38–42). Martha welcomed Him in and set about the serious business of hospitality. Mary sat at His feet and listened. Martha, the text says, was “distracted with much serving”, and eventually she came to Jesus and asked Him to tell her sister to help.
His reply was gentle but clear: “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” (Luke 10:41–42, NKJV).
It is important to notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say cooking was wrong, or that hospitality did not matter. Martha’s home was open, and that is a good thing. His concern was that the many tasks had crowded out the one thing, and that Martha was anxious and troubled as a result.
Evaluating the house
Every household could use an honest look at what fills its days and its rooms. A few questions help:
- Commitments: Which of our regular activities are genuinely life-giving, and which are we doing out of habit, guilt or fear of disappointing someone?
- Possessions: How much time goes into cleaning, storing, repairing and organising things we rarely use?
- Screens: How many hours in the evening does the house spend facing a screen rather than each other?
- Money: Are we working longer hours to pay for a lifestyle we are too tired to enjoy?
- Rest: Is there any time in the week when nobody is expected to be doing something?
Simplifying in practice
Simplicity rarely arrives in one dramatic clear-out. It usually comes through a series of small decisions:
- Clearing one cupboard, one room or one corner of the yard at a time, and giving away what someone else could use.
- Letting one commitment go this term, so there is space for another to be done well.
- Choosing a simpler Sunday meal so the cook can sit down too.
- Setting an evening when phones go in a basket by the door.
- Keeping a chair somewhere quiet, like Mary’s place at the feet of Jesus, for reading Scripture and prayer.
Light for simple people
The psalmist wrote, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130, NKJV). In the Bible, “the simple” often means those who are inexperienced or easily led, people who need guidance. It is a comfort to know that God’s word is meant for exactly such people. We do not need to have our lives in order before we open the Bible. Opening it is how order begins.
A household that makes room for God’s word, even a few verses read aloud after dinner, often finds it easier to see which of the many things matter. The light shows what can be let go.
Not a new burden
There is a danger that “simplify your life” becomes one more item on Martha’s list, another thing to feel guilty about. That is not what Jesus offered her. He offered an invitation to sit down. If you are exhausted, the first step may simply be to stop for a moment today, sit somewhere quiet, and tell Him so.
For reflection
- What are the “many things” that most often crowd out the one thing in your home?
- What is one commitment or possession your household could release this month?
Pray with me
Lord Jesus, You see how busy and troubled I am about many things. Show me what can be let go. Give our household the wisdom to choose the good part, and a place and time to sit with You. Let Your word bring light and order to our home. Amen.
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