Thursday

Related Verses
Luke 10:39
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word.

Isa. 30:15
15 For thus says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you will be saved; In quietness and in trust will be your strength; But you were not willing,

Matt.11:28-29
28 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

John 7:37-38
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Rev. 22:17
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

Related Reading
Mary had a proper attitude.

(1) She was at the feet of the Lord Jesus, and not at the feet of anyone else. She was drawing near to the Lord. This is the shortest and quickest way to grow in life. No method is better than coming to Him moment by moment, loving Him, worshipping Him, and unceasingly fellowshipping with Him and remaining in His presence. Many who know God in a deep way have found this way. Madam Guyon said, “Our drawing near to God constitutes all service.” Paul also charged us to pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17). If a man unceasingly fellowships with the indwelling Christ with an unveiled face, he will be changed into the Lord’s likeness (2 Cor. 3:18).

(2) She sat at the feet of the Lord. This means that she put herself in a humble position. Humility is a crucial condition for receiving God’s blessing. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility is not belittling ourselves; humility is ignoring ourselves, negating ourselves, and considering ourselves as nothing. If we draw near to God with deep humility, He will give grace to us. (CWWN, vol. 38, pp. 271-272)

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(3) She was sitting down,…not busy like her sister. Quietness is often the source of spiritual strength. The greatest challenge man faces is being quiet before the Lord…Of all the members in the body, the eyes are the busiest, and of all the faculties in the soul, the mind is the busiest. Those who are busy cannot receive revelation easily. A wandering mind and vacillating thoughts are like restless waves on a lake; the lake will never be able to clearly reflect the flowers and trees on the shore. If a man wants to have the Lord’s image imprinted in him and to be transformed into the Lord’s image, quietness is a necessity.

(4) She was listening to the Lord’s word. The words that the Lord speaks are spirit and life. Through this word, the Lord dispenses Himself to men. Her listening to the Lord’s word afforded the Lord the opportunity to communicate Himself to her so that she would gain the Lord and become like Him. She was continually receiving the Lord Himself. She did not just hear words; she was meeting the Lord. Brothers and sisters, it is a pity for anyone to just hear man’s voice in a sermon and not meet the Christ behind the voice. (CWWN, vol. 38, p. 272)

[In the jubilee] possession and freedom are both positive, but there is a difference between them…We cannot renounce God, saying that we want freedom instead of God, because without God there is no freedom. Our possession is God, and our freedom comes from our enjoyment of God. When we have…and enjoy our possession, the result is that we have freedom. Freedom is to be without oppression or deficiency. Some people apparently are not oppressed, but they are poor…Poverty is a tremendous bondage…How we thank God that today He is our possession, and when we enjoy Him, we have freedom!

Because we were poor, we not only lost God as our possession but also sold ourselves as slaves…However, when the year of jubilee comes, we not only are returned to God as our possession, but we also obtain freedom and are released from the bondage of slavery. Today many people talk about freedom, civil rights, and human rights, but if man does not enjoy God, he cannot have real freedom…When people only speak about freedom without being returned to God, the result is that many problems are produced, and many evil things are brought in…The biblical principle is that we must first be returned to God before we can have freedom. If we want to obtain freedom without being returned to God, the result is that we do not have true freedom. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, “The Jubilee,” pp. 23-25)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 38, pp. 271-272