Sitting at the Feet of Jesus
In a world that rewards busyness and punishes stillness, choosing to sit at the feet of Jesus may be the most countercultural — and most necessary — thing you do today.
Key Scripture
“But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42
Reflection
The scene is warm and familiar. Jesus has come to the home of Martha and Mary, and the house is alive with the holy chaos of hospitality. Martha is doing everything right by every cultural measure — preparing, serving, honouring her guest. And yet Jesus gently, firmly, redirects her. Not because her work was wrong, but because something better was being missed.
Mary’s posture at the feet of Jesus was not laziness dressed up as spirituality. In first-century Jewish culture, sitting at a rabbi’s feet was the position of a disciple — a learner under authority. For a woman to assume that posture was quietly radical. Mary was not opting out of responsibility; she was choosing a different and deeper kind of devotion. She understood that the presence of Jesus in the room was not an interruption to life. It was the point of it.
When Jesus says “one thing is necessary,” He is not dismissing the practical demands of life. He is redefining spiritual productivity. Martha was troubled and distracted by many things — and how deeply we recognise that feeling. Our days are saturated with notifications, obligations, and good things competing for our attention. But Jesus draws a quiet line in the sand: there is one thing that holds everything else together, and it is communion with Him. Every other good thing finds its right order when that one thing is protected.
The remarkable tenderness in Jesus’s words is that He calls Mary’s choice a “good portion” that will not be taken from her. He is not scolding Martha with harshness — He speaks her name twice, as a shepherd who knows each sheep. But He is calling both her and us to examine what we are truly anchoring our days to. Time at His feet is not stolen from your responsibilities. It is the very thing that sanctifies them.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me for the mornings I have rushed past You into the noise of the day. Forgive me for mistaking activity for faithfulness and busyness for devotion. I confess that I am often more like Martha than I care to admit — anxious, distracted, resentful that others seem more at peace. Today, I want to choose the good portion. Quiet my heart enough to sit with You. Teach me that Your presence is not one item on my to-do list but the foundation beneath every other moment. I want to know You more than I want to accomplish more. Anchor me to Yourself. Amen.
Today’s Action Step
Before you open your phone or respond to a single message tomorrow morning, physically sit down with your Bible and spend just ten minutes at the feet of Jesus — read Luke 10:38–42 slowly, ask Him one question, and listen. Protect that space as the first and non-negotiable appointment of your day. If mornings are truly impossible, identify one specific slot in your day — even fifteen quiet minutes during a lunch break or after the children are in bed — and guard it with the same conviction Mary brought to her posture at His feet. Your spiritual life will not grow in the margins of whatever is left over. Give Jesus the first and the best, and watch how He orders the rest.