Tag: Luke 10

The One Thing You Need

Old Testament: 2 Kings 13 & 14

Poetry: Proverbs 29

New Testament: Luke 10:38-42

Have you ever had the opportunity to go see, and possibly meet, a celebrity (actor, musician, athlete) in person? Ten years ago, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots were in Arizona to play in Super Bowl XLII. You may be thinking that I tried to get to see either Eli Manning (the Giants quarterback) or Tom Brady (the Patriots quarterback). But my interest wasn’t in either of them. No, I knew that Eli’s brother, Peyton, would be in town to attend some parties before the game. I had a friend of a friend of a friend who had tickets to one of those parties and I daydreamed hard about getting to meet the future NFL Hall of Famer.

A few years before that I was in Monaco and my tour guide had heard that George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damen were supposed to be filming a scene in the movie Ocean’s 12 at the famous Monte Carlo Casino. The group of students that I was traveling with and I stood with a crowd of people for almost an hour hoping to get a glimpse of the three actors. Well that never happened. But we did get to witness two extras walk down the steps of the casino and that scene is in the movie, so it wasn’t a complete waste of our time. Kinda.

When I read Mark chapter 5 I imagine that the crowds that followed Jesus around were a bit like the superfans of a celebrity. Wherever He went, masses of people would go and seek Him out. Not because He was rich and famous, but because they had heard He could perform some pretty crazy healing miracles. In this chapter we read about three people who were not just highly interested in meeting Jesus, they were desperate to meet Jesus. And so they did what they had to do, to get near Him. The demon-possessed man saw Jesus at a distance and ran and fell on his knees at Jesus’ feet (verse 6). The father of a dying young girl worked his way through the crowd and fell at Jesus’ feet (verse 22). The sick woman reached through the swarm of people to touch his cloak and then fell at His feet (verses 28, 33).

Desperation brings you to a place of complete abandonment of pride and social decorum and a complete surrender to experience an ounce of relief. Imagine being so in need of healing that you fight your way through a crowd of strangers to fall onto your knees at the feet of Jesus. The wonderful thing is that Jesus had compassion on each and every one of those people and He will have compassion on you too.

But Jesus doesn’t want you to humble yourself just when you’re desperate for healing. He wants you to be desperate to spend time with Him every day, even when things are going well for you. His desire is for us to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence no matter what is going on in our lives. Remember Mary, Martha’s sister, who sat at her Lord’s feet and she was praised for doing what was right (Luke 10:38-42)? Mary had the right idea. It’s during these times that we learn how to follow Him and to love Him. It’s during these times that we understand what it means to love others and become a fisher of men.

Psalm 16:11 says, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” When we find ourselves at the feet of Jesus, life, in all of its complexities, will begin to make a little bit of sense because we no longer view things at face value, but we get glimpses of how our life experiences fit into God’s eternal plan. Yes, we will still know sorrow and grief, but we will also have an eternal hope, a peace that surpasses understanding, and overflowing joy.

So let’s take a few minutes to fall on our knees at the feet of our Savior and Lord.   

-Bethany Ligon

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove Sept 15, 2017)

Reflection Questions

  1. What is the benefit of coming to the feet of Jesus when you are worried and upset and in need? What is the benefit of coming to Jesus when you just want to be closer to him and learn from him?
  2. What have you received at the feet of Jesus?
  3. What worries and distractions have you allowed to keep you from the One Thing you need? What is that One Thing?
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At the Feet of Jesus

Old Testament: Judges 7 & 8

Poetry: Psalm 110

*New Testament: Luke 10

Raspberry pie filling had poured on my shoes as I finally wrestled the large, heavy aluminum pan filled with pie onto the countertop. It was then that I noticed that this extra-large catered size pan had spilled raspberry filling from the car into the house and through the kitchen. I caught myself wondering if the restaurant staff had booby-trapped this massive dessert and I still had another to bring in. My friends were empathetic, but they were frantically searing ribs on the grill. This last minute pickup for a large rehearsal dinner had turned into chaos. Yes, it is hilarious now, but at the time, it was a little overwhelming. So I can completely identify with Martha in Luke 10.

Jesus was accompanied by his disciples and often with large crowds. Imagine the bustle in the village of Bethany as Jesus enters the home of Martha. Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus. Jesus had been revealing some amazing spiritual truths. He confirmed that eternal life could be inherited by loving the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, strength and minds while loving our neighbors as ourselves.(v.25-28) He explained that love is expressed by mercy in action through the parable of the good Samaritan.(v.30-37) His teaching was amazing and we can understand why Mary did not want to miss a minute of it. I imagine Mary had helped Martha with preparing for Jesus’ visit, but he was there now and he was teaching so Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We can all learn from Jesus’ words. There are so many things to do – good things to do – but these good things should never take the place of just being with and listening to Jesus. We all need to choose to be in Christ’s presence “which is better” and it will not be taken away from us.

-Rebecca Dauksas

Reflection Questions

  1. What is the one thing that is needed?
  2. What most often distracts you from what is most important? What does this reveal about your priorities? How can you work towards fixing this?
  3. What does it look like to sit at the feet of Jesus today? How can you do it more consistently?
  4. What do you find most amazing about the teachings of Jesus? What does this tell you about Jesus and even about His God and Father?
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Distracted

Luke 10

Saturday, December 17, 2022

I think that Martha gets a bit of a bad rap. Today she might even be what we call a “Karen.” It’s easy to read this last little portion of Luke 10 and think, “Well, better not be her,” and move on. But the thing is, most of us do have a little bit of Martha in us. We all have tasks that need accomplishing, people to take care of, and work to do. And all these things, while completely worthy of our time and dedication, can all too easily become a distraction from a relationship with Christ.


I don’t know about you, but different days I find myself relating to different sisters from this story. Fortunately for us, either way works out, because you either have the affirmation to keep being a Mary, or a gentle nudge that you’re being too Martha. Jesus broke cultural expectations in this story, encouraging his followers to stop and be present, rather than allowing work and responsibilities, however noble, to be a distraction from what really matters. The Bible tells us that we are to be anxious for nothing.


“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7


Even when our anxieties are totally justified, we are not to become anxious, but instead find rest in God’s overwhelming peace. He is here for us, always, all we need to do is be with Him.

-Isabella Osborn

Reflection Questions

  1. Is your approach to a relationship with God and His son more like Mary’s, or Martha’s?
  2. Do you ever find yourself getting so caught up in working for Christ that you forget to just be with him?
  3. On days when you feel yourself drowning in work and overwhelmed with tasks, what can you do to remind yourself to pause, and refocus your day on God? How can you do this during the Christmas season?
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It’s All About Love

Luke Chapter 10

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The chapter begins by Jesus sending out seventy-two disciples with the order to spread the news of the Kingdom, and giving them specific instructions.  It is noteworthy that people that heard the message and rejected will be judged more harshly than people that did not.  

 

Later, starting in verse 25, “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

 

Those are basic concepts that we can share with others when we have an opportunity to evangelize.  Add to that the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus, and then maybe sharing the Gospel doesn’t seem so hard after all.  We want people to be saved. We want that because that is what God wants as well. As we follow the two tenants of loving God and loving our neighbor, we should naturally want our neighbors to be in a saving relationship with their Lord and Savior.  

 

Not many of us are going to evangelists on the scale of Billy Graham, but we can certainly each do some small (or medium) part.  If you are worried about failing, and so hesitate to get started, I am sorry to tell you that you are guaranteed failure by doing nothing.  Doing SOMETHING greatly increases your odds for success. And remember, God wants you to be successful? He will help, and then you just have to hope that at least some of the seed landed in fertile areas. 

 

Greg Landry