Have you ever been loved on in a way that you will never forget? Jesus did, and even said that because of what took place, this woman will continue to be remembered from generation to generation, while the gospel is preached. So what happened, you might ask? We will find out together as we read in Mark 14. It reads, “and being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Mark 14:3-9) So we know that she didn’t care about how much this alabaster box of ointment or perfume cost. She had it for one purpose and that was to anoint her Lord’s head, who is Jesus. Was the people happy? No. But was Jesus? Yes.
What matters in life is if Jesus, our Lord, is happy and not what other people are thinking. God loves it when we are doing selfless acts of service. Some may think we are overstepping our bounds when it comes to the kindness we are showing towards others, but again the same thing happened to this woman who anointed Jesus’s head without even thinking twice. The same can be said by people that see us swipe out credit card for people in the checkout line. People may think we are crazy, but most likely the person who the kindness was shown towards, it will never be forgotten. And how about the homeless man or woman that you brought into a restaurant with you to eat. People may glare at you from their own table, but again, what will the homeless person think of what just took place? They will always remember it, for it was so nice of you to feed them in such a nice place. And what about the person who is really sick and without asking, you go up to the person and put your hand on their head or shoulder and pray for them. Some people who saw this may have thought you should have asked first and overstepped your bounds, but what do you think this person is feeling? Again, most people who are sick love prayer and will be grateful that you did this for them. And we didn’t even get down to what Jesus thinks of all these selfless actions on our part. He loves them all. It is His desire that we love our neighbor as ourselves and this is doing just that.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray that people would learn to love You and their neighbor as themselves. That they would become more selfless and less selfish. Help them learn what it means to give and not just to receive. So many people’s happiness relies on what they receiving in life and not what they are doing towards others, which is very sad. What they gain is so often more important than what they can do for someone else who is in need. If people could just see their actions as You see them, then things would be different. They would receive Your wise counsel and start living for You instead of themselves. They would repent of their selfish ambitions and learn to love what You love and hate what You hate. All I know, God, is that the things of this world are often so misleading. What appears to be so good on the surface often has bugs or issues along the way. Even the technology in our devices, like smartphones and tablets, only lasts for so long before people think they need a new upgrade. Things get old fast, as new things are coming out each year. And so people come into financial problems because of the run of their credit card. And oh how all this could have stopped overnight if people would learn to do good unto others instead of themselves all the time. One thing I’ve learned is that when I am in Your service is when I am the happiest. And if another person is loved by some good work I did for them, then I am loved the same way. Even my joy is increased. Lord, my greatest joy is when I know Your work is done, and when other people’s needs are met. That is that matters. I give You glory! I don’t deserve anything that is praiseworthy, for You deserve it all. I love You. Amen.
