Devotional Bible Study: Sitting At The Feet Of Jesus | Luke 10:41-42.
Updated: Aug 24, 2021
Welcome to Day 11. for one of our short powerful devotions from the 31 Bible Verses About Practicing The Presence Of God. This short devotional is based on Luke 10:41-42.
Read Luke 10:41-42.
Do you know the story of Mary and Martha?
I have read this story in the Bible many times but this time when I read it while compiling a list of bible verses for our topical bible study about Practicing The Presence Of God, Luke 10:42 stood out to me like a neon sign! It says, "but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part..."
Mary and Martha lived in Bethany with their brother, Lazarus. They were close friends with Jesus. The story of Mary and Martha that Luke is telling in our bible verses today is about the time that Jesus came to visit them at their home.
There may have been a large group that came to the house with Jesus and that could explain why Martha was so anxious to serve. Hospitality was extremely important during this biblical era, Martha would have been keen to honor her guests. When the group had packed into the house of Mary and Martha, Jesus began to teach them. The followers of Jesus thought of Him as their Rabbi and so they were eager to learn from Him at all times.
Martha was very distracted and Jesus called her out on it. The Hebrew word for distracted that is used in this verse is, "periespato" which means to be pulled or dragged in different directions. The problem with Martha is not that she is busy serving and providing hospitality but rather that she is worried and distracted.
While it is important to look after your guests well, it is more important to honor them with your presence - especially if your visitor is Jesus! Martha had missed out on the “one thing needed” for true hospitality. There is no greater hospitality than listening to your guest and enjoying their presence.
Join me below for a short devotional as we examine our hearts and lives to make sure that we have our priorities right, that we do the one thing that is needed, sitting at the feet of Jesus. Also, make sure to join me in prayer at the bottom of the post.
Short Devotional: Sitting with Jesus
What lessons can we learn from Mary and Martha?
Martha was right to be a good hostess and to look after her visitors well. However the fact that Jesus says Martha was worried and distracted seems to suggest that she was too concerned with the culture of serving and how her gift of hospitality may be scrutinized.
Mary was not concerned with hospitality, she was enjoying the presence of Jesus so much that she didn't want to miss anything that He said.
Be like Mary!
I know that we all have busy lives and that we do have responsibilities. We can't just not serve our families or forget about our work responsibilities. But we need to make time to enjoy the precious presence of our savior throughout the day.
Have you read our anchor post for this set of devotionals, Practicing The Presence of God? We talked about Brother Lawerence in it. He has some wise advice on how to practice the presence of God in your everyday tasks. You can read his story here.
Jesus’ words to Martha could also be viewed in a different light. Maybe instead of Jesus rebuking Martha, He was actually inviting her to sit at His feet too and to enjoy His presence. Jesus is gently telling Martha not to be worried and distracted, that she only needs to be concerned with one thing. The one thing that Martha needs is to receive the gracious presence of Jesus, which would deepen her faith and make her strong.
Unless we sit at Jesus feet and spend quality time communing with Him, our lives are fruitless and powerless.
Jesus is our powerhouse. He fills us with His wisdom and grace through the Holy Spirit.
Just as Mary sits at Jesus feet, we need to actively do it too.
We need to have hearts that seek God and have one that passionately desires to sit as His feet.
What distracts you when you try to sit at the feet of Jesus?
We all suffer from distractions. Ask God to provide those spacious times with Him.
You will be surprised at how windows of time can open up when you least suspect it. It could be that you have to patiently wait in the car for a period of time and you could use that time of prayer or maybe during your lunch break you can take a few minutes to spend some time worshipping at the feet of Jesus.
Spend some time today unpacking what God is saying to you about sitting at His feet. To help you with that, I have created a free printable with 31 scriptures on Practicing The Presence Of God, and a guided prayer journal.
Today's devotional is based on Luke 10:41-42 which is from our Practicing The Presence Of God: 31 Presence Of God Scriptures Plan. You will find a free printable PDF of 31 scriptures about God's presence in the Resource Library. It has a bible reading plan, guided prayer, and gratitude journal. Download this free printable or grab a notebook.
What is God saying to you through this verse?