Sitting Says Something

Did you wake up this morning and say to God: “I don’t need to read your Word or pray or listen to your voice today. I am competent on my own. I can do this all by myself, thank you very much.”?


Of course not!  We would never dare say these frightfully arrogant words.

But if we neglect God’s Word and prayer over the holidays (and when is it more easy to do!), we are saying with our hearts and actions: “I can do it all by myself.”

Jesus has a different perspective: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” He says in John 15:5.

We can’t ice one cookie, trim one tree, sing one carol, shop one minute, sew one stitch, or wrap one gift without Him. None of these things—no matter how hard we work at them or how beautifully we pull them off—will have any “eternal value or…produce spiritual fruit” without God (ESV Study Bible).

To bear fruit, we must sit at His feet.

We must renounce our self-sufficiency.

We must repent from our arrogant independence.

We must come to the God of mercy who is eager to forgive.

And we must sit.

When we sit at Jesus’ feet, we are saying: “I need you! I can’t obey you without your help. I can’t serve you in my own strength. I can’t walk in a manner worthy of the gospel by myself. I need your grace.”

And you know what, He will give it! God didn’t correct Martha’s self-sufficiency to push her away. He wanted to draw her near to sit and listen. He wanted to speak to her, to teach her, to give her grace to bear fruit.

So let’s say—with our words, our hearts, and our actions—I need you, Lord, today!