Many act like Marta-3

* Luís Alberto Alves

To get an idea of ​​this, it was only in 1546, that is, that the 66 books of the Bible were gathered together in one publication! There must have been many people with the dedication of Mary, concerned with the spiritual, for the Words of life of the Gospel to come true. For this, some of them lost their lives. For example, the disciple of John, the pastor of the church of Smyrna, Polycarp, who after 86 years of fidelity to the Lord in 325 AD was sacrificed at a stake by the Roman authorities.

What about the Egyptian king Ptolemy II, who hired 72 Jewish scholars to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, which became the Septuagint Bible? All this in 281 B.C., and did not please all. But he did his part. How many people today care deeply about the spiritual? The business is to invest in the material, that which is visible before our eyes, which can bring me some profit.

Even the accumulated knowledge in college or work-life banks is little used in Christian churches. How many siblings do not face legal problems and need support from lawyers, but they are still watching ships. How many dentists could not guide the brethren in Christ about the care needed to maintain oral health or even make a small dent in their teeth? How many doctors could give lectures on the importance of healthy eating? The list is long.

In this case, what prevails is the material. The spiritual does not deserve attention, because it is not palpable. Something impossible to visualize. Thus, Jesus loses importance in the lives of many servants. It is remembered in the hour of difficulty, the narrow path, when the spiritual gains importance. But past the danger, unfortunately everything returns to normal. We need to act like Mary, to stay together with Jesus and less Marta, who only imagines putting the material first. We forget that the spiritual world exists first than material. And God is Spirit and we need to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor