Blessed Be His Name!

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” John 11: 1-3

We studied this passage when we were in the gospel of Luke.  John, however, gives us an important connection:  The unnamed sinful woman in Luke 7:37 is none other than Mary, Lazarus and Martha's sister...

The same Mary who sits by the feet of Jesus instead of helping out her sister Martha (Stewart...just kidding!) is the sinful woman who breaks the alabaster jar which should have been saved as part of her dowry.  John also gives us another piece of the puzzle...she does that after Jesus has brought her brother Lazarus back from the dead.  Therefore, Mary's sacrifice is doubly full of thanksgiving!  She is thankful for the forgiveness of her own sins and also for the Lord's restauration of her family, providing a second chance in life!

It's no wonder, then, that Mary choses to give Jesus the best offering she possesses.  It is an offering of thanksgiving!

Silly and lazy Mary is not so silly and lazy after all, huh?  She knows exactly what she is doing.  She recognizes Jesus is the One that deserves all of her worship and all of her offering.  He is the One who deserves all of her.

How many times have I kept the best of me away from the Lord?

Sigh...

More than I'd care to count...

My selfishness and my insatiable search for comfort keep me from seeing the value in the sacrificial offering.  What more could Mary want?  She doesn't need a husband!  She has Jesus!  She doesn't need to worry about how she will survive.  Jesus gave her Lazarus back!  She doesn't need to wish upon a star.  She has the Bright and Morning Star reclining right there, in her own house!

Why do I hold on to the riches?  Because I forget that they do not belong to me.  I forget the blessing of giving. I forget that what I have been given is the Lord's and that it is my duty to be a good steward, which means that it is my calling to make them available for the furthering of the Kingdom of God, not of the kingdom of Gisela.

I pray that the reality of the presence of Jesus in my life helps me accept that even though, The Lord Gives and Takes Away, my heart will always say:  Blessed be Your Name!