Sit at His Feet and Live

“To be awake is to be alive.” That simple line from Thoreau’s Walden lingers in the mind, urging us to question whether we are truly living or simply moving. Thoreau, seeking a slower life in nature, recognized what many still sense: modern life often dulls the soul. We hustle from task to task, surrounded by noise and demands, rarely asking if we are fully awake to what truly matters.

But as profound as Thoreau's longing may be, his solution retreating into nature can only take us so far. For what we need isn’t just a quieter life; we need a new kind of attention. Not merely to trees and birds, but to the One who made them. Thoreau never met the Man who awakens the dead. But we have. His name is Jesus.

What Are You Awake To?

Luke 10 gives us a scene many know well. Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself with hospitality; Mary sits at Jesus’s feet. The tension builds until Martha bursts in, asking Jesus to correct her sister’s apparent laziness.

But Jesus gently answers “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42).

This isn’t a story of personality types. It’s a story of priorities. Of attention. Of what it means to truly be awake. Martha isn’t wrong to serve but she’s serving without savoring. She is so busy doing for Jesus that she forgets to be with Him.

And isn't that us? Always “on,” always rushing, constantly “doing,” even when the doing is for good reasons. Even when it’s for ministry. One recent study by Barna found that over 40% of pastors experience frequent burnout a startling symptom of a life distracted from Jesus, even in service to Him.

The Distraction of Good Things

It’s easy to sympathize with Martha. Hosting takes effort. Bread doesn’t bake itself. But her distraction is precisely the danger Jesus names. She is “distracted by much serving.” She’s not distracted by sin, but by good by things that are right and necessary, yet wrongly prioritized.

And that’s the deeper issue: good things becoming ultimate things. Our days fill with tasks parenting, ministry, spreadsheets, cleaning, caring, scheduling all good, and yet all so often barriers to intimacy with Christ when they become the center of our lives.

We begin to live half-alive. Not because we lack effort, but because we’ve misplaced our attention. We become like Martha, anxious and troubled, forgetting the joy and peace available at the feet of Jesus.

Contagious Busyness, Contagious Discontent

Martha’s story also reveals a sad truth: discontent rarely stays contained. It spreads. She doesn’t simply stew in her frustration she demands that Mary join her. Her anxiety becomes accusation, her irritation turns to indictment. “Lord, don’t you care?”

When we’re not anchored in Christ, we assume He must share our priorities. We mistake our whirlwind for His will. But He gently shows us a better way.

The Good Portion That Will Not Be Taken

Jesus doesn’t scold Martha for working. He doesn’t say work is bad. He says one thing is necessary. And Mary has chosen it. She’s not lazy she’s fully alive. Sitting at Jesus’s feet, soaking in His words, she has what can never be taken from her.

The Psalms echo this heart of Mary:

• “The Lord is my portion and my cup” (Psalm 16:5)

• “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26)

• “One thing I have asked…to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4)

Mary has chosen what we were made for: communion with Christ. She is not multitasking faith. She is marveling. She is treasuring. She is awake to Jesus.

Are You Fully Alive?

It’s a fair question. Are you truly awake to Jesus today? Or have your eyes slowly glazed over beneath the weight of responsibility and rush? Is your Bible unopened, your prayers fleeting, your thoughts scattered? Are you living in a fog of distraction, weary and anxious?

There’s more life available. Jesus came that we might have life “to the full” (John 10:10). And yet many of us settle for a diluted version, too busy to receive what He daily offers.

Every day, He beckons us like He did Mary. Sit. Listen. Be still. Know that He is God. It doesn’t require a retreat to the woods. It starts where you are. A few quiet moments before the day begins. A whispered prayer in the chaos. A resolved yes to the better portion.

Jesus Is the Wake-Up Call

Jesus isn’t calling us to abandon our responsibilities. He’s calling us to center them on Him. To serve from a place of worship, not in place of it. To wake up each morning and remember that before we do anything, we are invited to simply be with Him.

He says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This is the rest that awakens. The rest that restores. The rest that makes us alive again.

So rise early, not just to work—but to worship. Take your place at His feet. Let the day wait while you attend to eternity. Thoreau never met a man fully awake. But in Jesus, we meet the One who awakens us to real life. He calls us now.

Will you answer?

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