Have you been guilty of over-preparing these days? We can all easily find ourselves in an overprotective state of mind, wanting to collect and hold on tightly to everything that brings us comfort and security in the midst of uncertainty.
In Mark 14:3-9, we see that there was a woman who learned how to lay the most precious thing that she owned at the feet of Jesus:
“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
You see, this lady was not a “church-goer.” She wasn’t the type who had everything together. She had a past, and everyone in that room with Jesus knew about it. She was a big-time sinner in their book. And even though she didn’t have it all together, she understood something very significant; that she was valued by Jesus. He had forever impacted her life. Jesus wasn’t waiting for her to get everything together, in fact, He valued her before she ever did.
What got the attention of Jesus wasn’t her eloquent words, or a life that was refined, but the fact that she gave her absolute all to Him. She took all of her earthly possessions and laid them at the feet of Jesus. What she was showing Him was true “worth-ship.” She was telling Jesus that He was worthy to hold the most important part of her life.
Maybe today, as you are isolated in your own thoughts, you are flooded with accusations about your past, or you are feeling like you don’t know how to approach God, I want to encourage you to take the things that you find yourself holding most tightly to, and lay them at the feet of Jesus. We can take the Alabaster Box of our family, our dreams, careers, fears, and worries, and pour them out at the feet of Jesus.
Mark 14:1-9
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world,what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
