OK, I've admitted it, I am Martha. So how do I become Mary?
Ahh, good question, grasshopper.
There can be a perception that spending time at Jesus' feet is this blissful, quiet, yoga-like experience where we close our eyes and inhale through our nose and picture ourselves in a meadow with Jesus running toward us.
Sometimes it can be like that, I guess.
As I've mentioned earlier, for me it's usually more like a battle to stay focused. And when our kids were little, it sounded more like this:
"Mama is trying to read her Bible!! Now you get back in there and watch Dora and if I hear your little brother crying again because you hit him, you'll be the one who is crying when I get done with you!!"
Or something highly spiritual along those lines.
So here are some thoughts on sitting at Jesus' feet:
1. We have to realize that physically sitting at someone's feet is an act of submission. When Mary sat at Jesus' feet, she was saying in essence that nothing was more important than him, and that she was his student, his follower. She was eager to learn from him.
We all have full lives, and we all make choices every day of how we are going to spend our time. One of my favorite time-management books is 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam. In it, the author shows how our priorities (or lack of them) drive our time-related decisions each day.
What does the way I spend my day say about who Jesus is in my life?
* A side note to parents of young children: you are going through a tough season in your life right now, and often it feels like you are on a spiritual desert island. But don't let that be a cop out. Sitting at Jesus' feet will look different for you right now. Sometimes all you can do is cry out for Jesus to help you! I would encourage you to find ways to memorize Scripture; you will be amazed at the Holy Spirit's ability to pop that piece of truth into your brain just when you need it.
One great way to do that is listen to verses set to music. God wired us to remember words in songs better than spoken words. Heck, I can still do the rap to "It Takes Two" and you should hear my husband break it down on "Ice, Ice Baby." Now, let's use some of that memory storage for something worth while!
Two resources that I know of are Fighter Verses and the Seeds Family Worship CDs. Somebody bootlegged the Seeds of Courage CD for us when our kids were younger (Sorry! If it makes you feel better, the cd skipped. Alot.) Anyway, I will never forget our entire family singing, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding..." except one of the kids thought they were singing, "And the pizza guy..."
Also, (and this is something that has been wandering around in my brain for weeks now), what if you got another mom or your mom or sister to be a memory verse buddy? You could both say the verses to each other once a week, maybe just on the phone (but no cheating! it kinda defeats the purpose.) I've been thinking of asking my sister or a friend to do this with me, because I have the self-discipline of jello. And the belly to prove it! But that's another post.
OK, I know there's only one point here, but I have to go pick up the kids, so I will save the rest for another day.
Don't forget! The pizza guy is always watching over you, transcending all understanding. What a comfort.
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