5 Ways to Sit at the Feet of Jesus Today

In a previous blog post, we discussed Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and how she had chosen the good portion which 'would not be taken from her'. At the end of Luke chapter ten Mary positions herself at Jesus' feet to listen to Him teach. In that day, this posture meant you were, or desired to be, a student of the one teaching. Mary had taken a position of submission, yielding her time and attention to Jesus while He was speaking. Her body language conveyed a dependence on Him for the message and the wisdom He was imparting. Can you imagine what that must have been like? Hearing the words of life coming directly from the Word Himself!

When we think of sitting, we think of planting our rear end on a surface of some sort; the floor, a chair, warm sand on the beach (ahhhhhh). What we do not think of is movement or action. To sit means to plant it and remain there, but while Mary literally sat at Jesus' feet, today, we do more of a figurative 'sit'. This kind of sitting is more of a posture that we take toward Jesus, not a physical act. To be at Jesus' feet means to submit ourselves to His authority and His will for our life. It is to yield our desires and plans to His sovereign goodness. It is to worship Him and serve Him while simultaneously stilling our hearts so that we can hear the quiet nudging of the Holy Spirit inside us to do good. At the feet of Jesus is where we learn how to be more like Him. In Him, we are a new creation with a new purpose in life.

In Ephesians, Paul says we are to:

Considering we do not have Jesus here with us in person today, how can we still 'sit at the feet of Jesus'? How can we "put on Christ" (Rom. 13:14) I'm glad you asked! Here are five ways we can do just that:

1. Read your Bible. I repeat, read your Bible. Read it, study it, memorize it. I Cannot express the importance of just knowing what's in there. Author and Bible teacher Jen Wilkin says it best, "the heart cannot love what the mind does not know". This means that if we are to commune with Jesus and come to love Him, we must first know about Him. We first have to learn who He is, what He did, and what He promises to do. To know Him we must go to the Word. He IS the Word. Bible literacy is the backbone of our faith.

2. Go to church. I'll just leave this one right here:

Why is church attendance / going to church important? | GotQuestions.org

3. Quiet time. Every day, at some point (early in the morning is best, but better late than never!) spend time in prayer. Like serious, spill-your-guts out kind of prayer. After you've spent time reading your Bible, it is equally as important to spend time talking to God.

As we learn more about who Jesus is, we see that He spent a fair amount of time in prayer. Prayer is THE way that we exercise the most basic aspect of our faith. Jesus set this example Himself when He spent time alone in prayer. If even the Son did this, why do we tend to think we are exempt? Do we assume that we know better than Jesus and we don't need prayer? Why do we neglect such a privilege? Spending time alone with God is worth every second and prayer WORKS. Prayer changes things and prayer grows your faith like nothing else can. If your prayer life is lacking these days, might I suggest the book Just Ask by J.D. Greear.

4. Listen to Christian music. Music is powerful. Music is passionate. Music can change your mood in an instant. Music can pep you up or bring you down. It can inspire you and it can totally derail you. As believers, we absolutely have to guard our minds when it comes to music choices. What we fill our heads with all day is what we will have on our minds and in our hearts. Most Christian music is composed of lines of scripture or is at least based off of scripture and the Gospel message. Side note, be aware, some sorts of 'Christian' music are poorly written, doctrinally starved, exasperatingly repetitive excuses for noise...but that's just me. A conversation for another post. I digress.

The more 'doctrinally sound' Christian music we can fill our ears with, the more we can drown out the unnecessary distractions of the world. Don't get me wrong, I like secular music too! Before I became a Christian, metal was my music of choice. I also loved country music and some rap, but rock was my dopamine hit. My musical tastes have now shifted to compositions with eternal significance. Christian Rock is a thing and a welcome replacement to my previous playlists. Praise and worship music is what plays in my house, in my car, on my phone, anywhere I can play it. Now, I crave music that glorifies God and puts my mind in a place of reverence. Music that carries the message of the Gospel that I can share with someone else is a valuable tool in my belt of evangelism. Not everyone likes the Bible, but everyone likes music! Sometimes that can be the one connection you can make with your neighbor who does not know Christ. Christian music helps take the focus off of ourselves and puts it where it belongs, on the One who created us.

5. Attend a small group. There is something so sweet and comforting about being a part of a small group Bible study. One that exists solely to gain a deeper and more intimate knowledge of the Word of God. One that encourages and teaches us how to have a healthy prayer life. A small group is where we can just enjoy being in the presence of fellow believers, learning and growing with them. It gives us a chance to minister to one another where we wouldn't otherwise do so in a large group or congregation setting. Being a part of a small group adds the function of accountability to our lives, allowing us to be held and hold others accountable for our studies of the scriptures. A small group is a place where, when you are comfortable enough, you can open up and share your heart with others. Whether that be prayer requests, praise reports, therapy sessions, or maybe just a good cry. Communing with other believers is an essential part of living the Christian life.

Hebrews tells us to:

And in Galatians, we are commanded to:

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a good place to start. My hope is to convey the importance of posturing ourselves beneath the authority of Christ. To sit at the feet of Jesus is to rest in His mercy and grace with the knowledge of what He has done for us. The sacrifice that He made for our sin is well-worth the cost of laying down our pride and conceit to sit at His feet in submission, offering our lives as a "living sacrifice" to the One who bought us with His blood.

If you would like to add to this list of ways we can live our lives at the feet of Jesus, please drop a comment below.

Stay humble, stay hungry, and keep choosing the good portion!