Mark 14:3-5

Have you ever done something for someone just to show them how much you loved them?

My mom loved her birthday. She would start talking about it the month before. Every day we would hear, “Its almost my birthday!” In fact, my birthday is one week after hers and I wasn’t allowed to talk about my birthday until hers was over. Not fair. Last year my mom was dying, and we knew it would be her last, so we celebrated her birthday every day for a month. Friends and family sent cards, flowers, and other gifts. Every day I read her cards to her and showed her what she received. She was so excited. One day, after receiving multiple flower deliveries and several packages, she looked so happy and with a smile on her face said, “Wow, people really love me.” Many might think it was “wasteful” because she wasn’t really able to enjoy the gifts. She wasn’t eating and she was sleeping twenty hours a day. On her birthday, I made her a birthday cake and we sang to her – and she wasn’t even awake. Was it “wasteful” to do that? I don’t think so. She died two days after her birthday knowing she was loved.

Mark tells a story of a woman named Mary. Mary loved Jesus. She wanted Him to know how much she loved and adored Him. She took her most prized possession, an alabaster jar filled with perfume that was made of pure nard. This was very expensive, worth a year’s wages. As the men were lounging after dinner, she broke the bottle, poured the perfume on Jesus and massaged it into His hair. The disciples and others in the room began to criticize her and tell her it was “wasteful”; she could have sold the perfume and helped the poor.

Mary didn’t care what the others thought. She did what was in her heart. She did exactly what we are supposed to do. She gave Jesus her best. She worshiped Him. Saying it was wasteful was saying Jesus wasn’t worthy of this extravagant gift of love. No matter what the world says, it is never a waste of time to give God the best of your talents, your treasures, and your love. God wants our best. He wants our All.

Dear Father, please help us be like Mary and give you our best, even when others might object and criticize us. You gave us your best when you gave us your son Jesus, who shed His blood for us. You are worthy of all we have, all our time, and all our praise and adoration. We love you. Amen.

Contributed by Amy Norton