One of my favorite Bible stories is when Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus. After the Lord raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead, she took an expensive flask of perfume, worth nearly a year’s wages. It was likely the most expensive thing she owned, and she used it to anoint Jesus’s feet, gently wiping His feet with her hair.
Mary may have been scared to do what she did. Her actions were not typical of the women of her day, and some thought her actions were wasteful (John 8:4-6), yet she did it in sincere worship of Jesus. And He honored her gift. God isn’t always concerned with what we think would be practical. While Mary’s perfume could have been sold to benefit the poor, that’s not what God had in mind.
Mary likely did not understand what the scope of her actions would be, but Jesus did, and He explained them to everyone in the room. Through anointing Jesus, she was symbolically preparing Christ’s body for His burial. We don’t know what the scope of our actions will be, but God does. And we can trust that He will use our gifts for His good purposes.
As forgiven followers of Jesus, we can follow the example Mary set…she had a gift, and she used it for her Lord. We can do the same; each of us has a gift from the Lord, and He calls us to use our gifts in sincere worship of Jesus. When we look at all Christ has done—dying and raising again to free us from the power of sin and death—we, like Mary, might search for any gift we could possibly offer Jesus. These gifts could be material, like Mary’s perfume, or spiritual, like the gifts God provides through the Holy Spirit.
Don’t let the watching eyes and criticisms of others stop you from accomplishing what God has for you to do with your flask of perfume; it’s your gift to Him. Sometimes, God invites us to use our gifts in ways that we don’t think are practical. But He calls us to trust Him anyway. And, sometimes, the best way for us to use our gifts is by doing something extravagant to celebrate His goodness. • Lily Walsh
• What gifts has God given you? (These could be talents, possessions, spiritual gifts, etc.)
• How might God be inviting you to use your gifts in worship to Him? You can ask Him for guidance and wisdom about this anytime.
There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 1 Corinthians 12:5 (NLT)
Read Verses:
Phil.4.10-Phil.4.20|1Tim.6.6-1Tim.6.10|Heb.13.5
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