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Sitting At Your Feet from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

About a half hour's walk from Jerusalem there, is a small hamlet on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives called Bethany (click on image to enlarge). 

When Jesus was passing through, He was invited to stay at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Afterward, when visiting Jerusalem, Jesus always stopped by their house. Bethany was a secluded town away from the busy crowds. A place to rest. 

(Luke 10:38–39 NKJV)  Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 

Mary had a desire to learn, and she sat at Jesus' feet, listening to the Word of God being taught. In those days, it was unheard of for a woman to sit at the feet and learn from a rabbi. Traditional writings later emerged that the Torah should be burned rather than handed over to women. Clearly, Jesus rejected such foolish, unbiblical teachings outright. 

 (Luke 10:40 NKJV)  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."

The older sister Martha took the leadership role in tending to the guest's needs. She had the gift of hospitality and wanted to serve others. She went overboard and became overwhelmed with all the preparations. Perhaps a light meal would have been a better choice, and more time with the guests. 

After some stares of death failed to work, Martha became angry with her sister Mary for not helping her. Then she became angry with Jesus for not caring. Martha wanted to force Mary to serve Christ her way. 

Tunnel vision occurs when our means of service becomes everything, and we begin to believe that "If everyone else was right spiritually, they would also be doing this." But what did the Master think:

(Luke 10:41–42 NKJV)  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Martha's self-appointed responsibilities were worrying and troubling her. She was frustrated.  Then Jesus told her that there is "one thing" that is "needed." The "good part" which "will not be taken away." What was it? Listening to the Word of God. In fact, hearing the Word of God was a very big thing to Jesus:

(Luke 11:27–28 NKJV)  And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

(Luke 8:19–21 NKJV)  Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You." But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

I have felt like Martha so many times. I remember getting laser-focused on building a digital recorder that could turn any audio signal into an mp3 file. Then I built our church a website, installed it on a computer, and created a script to record the sermons and upload them to the site in the background. 

Yet, most of the congregation didn't have a computer back then. No one cared. When I tried to explain to them how you could listen to the sermons on the web, many thought of a spider web. After the Lord moved me on, the system ran for about five years without anyone knowing what it did. 

I was busy making sandwiches no one had ordered. Still, the experience wasn't lost, for I use those same ideas from twenty years ago here at Refreshing Hope today. You cannot serve like Martha successfully until you have spent time at the Master's feet like Mary. You will become frustrated and angry. 

When you sit at the Master's feet, listening to the Word of God, you will gain insight and peace that others do not have. Six days before Passover, when Jesus was crucified, Jesus stopped by Martha's house on His way to Jerusalem. Mary brought out a pound of very costly spikenard and anointed Jesus' feet with it:

(John 12:1–3 NKJV)  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

Mary knew that Jesus was going to His death, but His chosen Apostles didn't! Why? Because she had sat at His feet and listened. Mary saw things the Apostles missed. Hearing the Word of God will bring insight and inspiration that others do not have. It will give you an edge. Yet, you can hear without actually hearing. (Mark 4:23 NKJV) "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Look at the Apostle Judas:

(John 12:4–8 NKJV)  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

A denarii was a day's pay for common labor then. Hebrews worked six days a week and took the Sabbath off. They worked an average of 50 weeks a year x 6 days = 300 denarii. Today in the USA, you are lucky to get someone to do any labor for less than $100 a day, and often it is three times that amount. That would put the value of that spikenard at least $30,000 today. This means that Lazarus was probably a wealthy man. 

We can become so busy doing things for the Lord that we forget to balance it by spending time hearing the Word of God. Certainly, we should take our work seriously, but when we find ourselves getting upset with the Lord because something isn't going right, guess who is always wrong? 

Our hard-working self-righteous attitudes will get us into trouble. Be careful of going overboard and becoming overwhelmed and frustrated. Remember the older brother in the prodigal son parable? He became so angry with the father in the story! (Luke 15:30). "Look at all I have done for you!" In order to serve like Martha successfully, you must balance it by listening to the Word of God like Mary. It is the "one thing needed, the good part, which cannot be taken away."

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me find balance in my life. Open my mind to the Scriptures, and help me see what others miss. Fill me with Your peace and wisdom, and give me the grace to do whatever I face. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!