I love the story of Mary and Martha. We are a culture defined by distraction, “worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10:41). We are Martha, rushing to manage and control, often feeling overwhelmed.
Our intentions are good. We want to serve God, love our families, and excel at our work. But in the frantic pace, we can end up serving our schedule instead of our Savior.
But then there is Mary. In that familiar scene from Luke 10, while Martha is “distracted by all the preparations,” Mary simply sits at the feet of Jesus, hanging on His every word. She chooses presence over production.
When Martha, stressed and frustrated, complains, Jesus offers a gentle, profound correction: “But few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (v. 42).
This “one essential thing” is not another task to add to our checklist. It is a posture of the heart. It is the willful choice to be present with Him before we are productive for Him.
What does sitting at His feet look like today? It might mean turning off the 24/7 news cycle to read one Psalm. It’s putting the phone face down across the room for ten minutes. It’s swapping the drive-thru rush for a quiet moment of gratitude. It’s closing the laptop, taking a deep breath, and simply whispering, “Speak, Lord. I’m listening.”
Jesus isn’t scolding our hustle; His heart aches for our striving souls. He invites us, with deep compassion, to stop. To sit. To receive. The noise will die down. The “many things” find their proper alignment only after we have secured the “one thing”- His presence.
~ Leah Burnett
Christ Fellowship