There's this Bible Story that absolutely captivates my heart and speaks to my spirit every time I read it. It's the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet with perfume that was more expensive than a year's worth of wages. Sacrificially giving the one thing within her life that cost her the most, she lay before Christ's feet and gently scrubbed and washed with her hair. Most people see this story and have a reaction of, "what the?!", but the deeper meaning behind this incredible display of respect and love for the One who saved her life is truly remarkable.
In Mary, we see a woman stained with sin, tainted with the ways of the world, and along the path of destruction she meets a man that completely turns her life around. Picking her up out of her slime, her shame, her disgrace - Jesus sees beyond the sin to the hurting woman within and calls her to follow Him. Trusting Christ as her shield and rampart when the rebukes of others came to her ears, the incredible friendship and care that Jesus had over her is amazing to watch.
However, the fact of the matter is that the night this dear, broken woman came to Christ to wash His feet with her most prized possession, those around her rebuked her - seeing the cost of the perfume rather than the sacrifice of love she was making for her Savior. The disciples were more worried about the worlds standards of money and power, instead of God's standards and appreciation for the sold out faithfulness of Mary. Christ's response to all this grumbling from everyone? " 'Leave her alone.' Jesus replied, 'It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.' " - John 12:7-8
The thing that gets me the most about this story is the fact that the disciples were in essence calling Mary crazy for offering the perfume as a sacrifice of love to Christ. How often do we do that to people these days? Making snap judgments instead of seeing to the heart and soul of the person that may be calling out for us to love on them as Christ loves them? How easy is it for us to get into our own little world of comfort and refuse to see the needs of those around us? And how often do we see women like Mary in our lives, working hard for the Kingdom, and call them crazy or ridiculous for their faith in the love and saving grace of Christ?
Isn't it amazing how often we get sidetracked from the calling of the Lord because of one, small issue, one small dot on the whole page that gets us to hone in on it, thus preventing us from seeing the "big picture"? In this particular story, this is SO the case. The disciples see the money that is being "wasted" and worry by the world's standards, instead of seeing the sacrifice of Mary and following her example.
And again I'm reminded - one issue can often derail us altogether. What is that issue in your life? What is everything in your life held up on? Is it Fame/Popularity? Is it success by the world's standards? Is it your friends? Is it money? How about your family, ministry, or work? What causes you to lose your focus on the eternal and live in the standards of today? What happens when that one thing that you treasure more than anything, is taken from you, as Jesus was taken from the disciples in this story? Will we be so focused on the minut issues of today, instead of seeing the eternal sacrifices we should be making? Why not let our lives be held up on Christ – having Him as our firm foundation and not the worldly desires?
Let's let our focus be on the eternal, refusing to let the little issues of life derail us from our calling. Let us rely solely on the power, grace, love, and mercy of Christ to guide and direct our paths. And let's work together to be the change that this world so desperately needs. Deal??
And last, there's this GREAT song called "Dress us up" by John Mark McMillan that chats about this very subject... to a certain degree. One of my all time faves! Go Jesus! :-)
Dress us up in your righteousness
Bring us in with a ring and a kiss
When you walk into the room you know we can't resist
Every bottle of perfume always ends up on the floor in a mess
You make us sparkle and you make us shine
Like the stars who sing on your chorus line
Through space and time we'll harmonize
Where deep meets deep like the ocean meets the sky
The sun and the moon
They come out of their grave just for you
The dead man and the cynical too
They're coming out of their grave
And it's just for you
Cause the love of God is stronger
The love of God is stronger
The love of God is stronger
Than the power of death
Dress us up in the blood of a son
Who opened up his veins so that we would overcome
Hell and the grave in the power of his love
After three dark days he showed us how it's done
And he still does
You make us sparkle and you make us shine
Like the stars who sing on your chorus line
Through space and time we'll harmonize
Where deep meets deep like the ocean meets the sky
Yeah
The sun and the moon
They come out of their grave just for you
The dead man and the cynical too
They're coming out of their grave
And it's just for you
Cause the love of God is stronger
The love of God is stronger
The love of God is stronger
Than the power of death
AMEN!! :-)
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