Being Mary: Lessons at the Feet of Jesus

Luke 10: 38- 42 | 38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at [a] Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 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.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

In this passage, we read of two sisters who knew Jesus well: Martha and Mary. We also know that these two sisters had a brother, Lazarus. In this passage, the sisters welcome Jesus into their home. Martha sets about serving Jesus while Mary sits at His feet. Two very different actions are observed when Jesus is in the house – one serves and the other sits.

When we read this passage, what is Jesus trying to teach us?

Is this about personality or passion? One sister was more of a Type A personality (driven) while the other was not? Or was it more about passion or priorities? Martha felt it was more important to serve Jesus while Mary wanted to learn something from him. Both were not wrong; however, when we find more delight in serving Jesus rather than seeking Him, we run the risk of making ministry an idol.

AtAt the end of the day, we can’t justify and say that task-based, driven people like Martha are like that because of their emotional makeup. The real issue is that we all need to make time with Jesus a clear priority and then live our lives accordingly, regardless of our personality profiles.

Life is all about choices and we are responsible for the choices we make. We can, if we wish, choose like Mary. In Singapore, it is difficult to live a Mary-like life because success and who you are as a person are often measured by your productivity. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is seemingly unproductive, but I made such a decision in March 2024 when I decided to attend Ellel Ministries Flagship Programme, a 9-week discipleship programme in inner healing and deliverance, Lancaster, Lancashire, Great Britain. Difficult decision, yes – going off the Singapore track...

Over the next couple of minutes, I am going to share with you “Being Mary: Lessons at the Feet of Jesus.” I am going to share 5 lessons I learned during my time at Flagship.

---

Lesson 1

• It is important to understand and identify what you actually believe about God and yourself.

• My revelations .... What did I learn about my core beliefs about myself. Lordship issues....

• Do we accept that we are chosen, we are heirs, we are adopted? I am His?

• Can I really trust God to do right by me? Can I fully abandon my life into God’s care?

Lesson 2

Abiding is a privilege.

John 15: 4-5 | 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Abiding means to remain, continue, dwell, endure. It is about close, intimate relationship. Are you happy to be a branch? We can’t survive without being dependent on the vine. We must understand what it means to live like a branch. The branch has no other responsibility other than to receive from the vine. It is one of total dependency. Sometimes we seek His blessings but live out of our own will.

Lesson 3

The Power of the Pause (Sitting at the Feet of Jesus)

Psalm 23: 2-3 | 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3He restores my soul;

We often neglect rest as we believe that rest is insignificant. Rest is more important than we think. Hyperfast – hypertense – oftentimes we don’t know how to relax.

Lesson 4

• Develop an intimacy-based approach rather than a business-oriented approach to ministry. Presence over performance.

• Duty or desire?

• Spiritual purity does not come from productivity. Service must begin with intimacy. The more I do for Him, the closer I am to Him, the more spiritually mature I become – WRONG!

• Being fruitful means that we need to understand how to live like a branch. Living like a branch means living a life of humility and surrender. It means that He is God and I am not. My life is in His hands. The blessed life is the branch life.

Jeremiah 29: 13 | 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

We must learn to seek Him, to find Him, and to abide in Him.

Lesson 5

How are you going to spend the rest of your life – wounded or healed?

No one can make this choice for you – not even God.

The story of Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9: 1 – 13 | 9 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”He said, “At your service!” 3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”(Look at how he is described – “lame in his feet”). 4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”5 Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.6Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he answered, “Here is your servant!” 7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”(Mephibosheth only identified himself as a lame man, he could not see himself as the son of a prince. Many times the enemy would have us to only see ourselves in the present and never in the future.) 9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10 You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.” “As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.” (Only when we can truly accept that we are sons and daughters of God can we truly experience all that he has for us. Don’t live beneath your privileges as a child of God.). 12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet. (The full stop is important. You don’t have to be perfect to sit at the King’s table. Imperfection does not disqualify from sitting at the King’s table). Why do we disqualify ourselves when God has already said come?

An invitation to the table but yet... you may be invited to the table but you cannot accept the invitation and feel like you belong or even feel that you have a right to be there. Do you believe that you belong to be in the Kingdom of God? Can you accept His invitation to come to the table and receive healing? Can you let go of your woundedness and receive his healing and allow Him to restore and transform your life? This is the question that I believe that everyone of us must answer today. God does not want us to live feeling like we can never be healed and we will always be broken and ‘lame’.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, Give each and every one of us the courage to walk healed, and give us the courage to accept Your invitation to sit at the table. In Jesus Name, Amen.