Daily Devotion, September 20, 2023

 

Devotion:

Read Luke 10:38-42.

Luke 10 begins with the commissioning of the seventy-two as Jesus sends them out two by two to every town and place where he was about to go. There is a thread which runs through the whole chapter of what true discipleship is like on this journey with Jesus. Yesterday, we read the story of the lawyer who asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And in response, Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus’ concluding instructions are, “Go and do likewise.”

Today’s verses immediately follow this story. Now today we are reading about Mary, who is simply sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him. And Jesus says to Martha, “Mary has chosen what is better.” Some translations say, “what is good” or “what is most important”.

Dr. R. Alan Culpepper writes, “Neither the story of the good Samaritan nor the story of Mary and Martha is complete without the other. The model for the disciple is found in both stories. Jesus says, ‘Go and do’, and he praises Mary for ‘sitting and listening.’ A disciple’s journey with Jesus requires both.”

Through the years the disciple’s journey with Jesus has been described as both the “Inward Journey” and the “Outward Journey”.  The first is spending time at Jesus’ feet and listening to his words---and receiving his grace. The second is following Jesus’ mission to go out into the world serving others---and giving his grace to others.”

I have often heard faithful Christians, missionaries, ministers, and others who serve in various vocations give witness that they cannot serve others if they have not spent time sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his words.

Also, if we think of the church being the Body of Christ, then collectively, we need people spending time in both prayer and scripture study and people spending time going out in mission and service to others.

This time spent at Jesus’ feet and listening helps “center us” and set right the priorities of our lives for that which is most important. In Jesus’ presence there is peace, and the frenetic pace of our lives gets reset. We can then hear clearly the next steps Jesus is calling us to make on our journey.

Personal Worship Option:

How is God leading us to reset our priorities to have the time to truly sit at Jesus’ feet and listen?