Luke 10:38-42  (NKJV)

³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

There are several important lessons here about being a disciple (student) of Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus is interested in homeschooling His students.

Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. Although Jesus is quite capable of teaching the masses, He is more concerned about each individual’s response to His message and their faithfulness in obeying His voice. Sitting at Jesus’ feet—in other words, being His disciple—strongly implies a closeness to Jesus and a comfort with lowering yourself next to His feet.  When you listen to Biblical teaching or sermons, do you keep it “outside of your house” by criticizing the delivery or the messenger?  When you read a convicting passage from the Bible, do you “keep it outside of your house” by forgetting about it as soon as you leave your chair?  Or do you invite Jesus into your house by accepting what He says and abiding with Him throughout the day?  You are not lost in the crowd with Jesus, He knocks on your door waiting to be let in.

2. Being a disciple of Jesus is more about being with Jesus than doing for Jesus.

Many years ago, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior and I welcomed Him into my life as my master and teacher. However, I didn’t understand that all of my good works and pursuits were empty without significant quantities of time just being with Jesus.  He didn’t save me to do good things for Him; He saved me to do good things with Him.  Only a relationship that is established in love and not productivity has power to deliver from bondage to fear.  When my love for Jesus is expressed more out of my productivity for Jesus than my being with Jesus, then it is impossible for me to trust completely that He loves me for me and not for what I do for Him.  Many people face this darkness when they lose the ability to work as hard for Jesus as they once did.  But glory be to God, when my love for Jesus is expressed more out of my restful being with Jesus than in my doing for Jesus, then I am able to perceive that His love for me is not caused by anything I can do for Him.  He loves me right now whether I am great or small, in control or out of control, capable or incapable.

3. Whatever we choose will not be taken away from us.

God is the most holy person I know.  He is who He is even when others try to tell Him what to do or how to think, and He expects us to be holy as He is holy.  No matter what He has told us to do or how to think, He expects us to choose who we are according to what we want.  And whatever we choose will not be taken away from us.  If we choose to be close to Jesus and sit at His feet, nothing will separate us from His love or His leadership.  If we choose to be worried and troubled about many things, nothing will separate us from our work and anxiety.  God certainly delivered Israel from Pharaoh, but if they would have chosen to stay in Egypt, there would have been plenty more bricks to make and plenty more taskmasters to whip their backs.  No matter your circumstances or status in life, you have the autonomy to choose that good part and sit at Jesus’ feet or stay busy trying to present yourself properly before the Lord that has already graciously accepted your invitation to come in and live with you as you are right now.

 

I encourage you to sit at Jesus’ feet and be with Him even if your kitchen is a mess, you have great plans that require lots of money, you are in debt, you have an important call to minister, your children need you, your husband needs you, your church asks you to volunteer, your family demands your time, etc., etc.  There is no shortage of demands upon us, but one thing is needful—being with Jesus.

 

What is something that is distracting you from being with Jesus today and how might you instead choose to sit at Jesus’ feet?