what type of disciple are you?

Today in church we were discussing the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. For those of you who may not be familar, the story of Mary and Martha is goes like this...

Martha invited Jesus to stay at their house when He was passing through their village. Her sister Mary is sitting in the living room at Jesus' feet, listening to Him talk. Meanwhile, Martha is busy in the kitchen trying to make all the preparations for His stay. Martha comes to Jesus and asks if He would tell Mary to get up and give her a hand. Well, instead of Jesus commending Martha for her hard work, He commends Mary for choosing what was most important--sitting at His feet.

I started thinking about how recently I've been very "Martha-like." Right now, I'm at a point of really wrestling with what God may have in store for me for the rest of my life. I want to know my "calling" and what I should be doing with my life long-term. Where will I be in 10 years? How can I best serve His kingdom with my gifts, skills, and passions? Well, I recognized that a lot of my questions were about me. Although I want to serve Jesus and ultimately be doing what He wants me to, the questions in themselves are about ME. What should I be doing? Where should I be going? Like Martha, I have been "anxious about many things" and perhaps neglected the One thing that is most important--sitting at the feet of Christ.

After thinking about my "Martha tendencies," I began to think about what kind of disciple I would be like if I lived in Jesus' time. You have Peter who put his foot in his mouth a lot. Then there's the infamous "doubting Thomas." John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. What would I go down in history as? Well, I decided that if I were to be appointed the 13th disciple, I probably would've been known as Cara the planner. I would have been the one that was portrayed as trying to keep Jesus on top of His agenda. As soon as I learned that Jesus had a purpose to fulfill, I would've been right there with the planner and timeline making sure He got it all done. The problem is that my focus would've been in the completely wrong place. First of all, Jesus doesn't need anyone to help keep Him in check. :) Secondly, my mindset can't be on the task at hand, but the One who is above all of it. The tasks at hand may be important, but they aren't the "end all, be all"--Jesus is.

So, let us sit at His feet and remember the things that are most important--the "good portion that cannot be taken away from us."

What type of disciple would you be?