September 10
Complete Worship
Read Mark 14
Mark 14:6-7 “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.”
A WOMAN pours out a jar of expensive oil over Jesus to honor him. But many think it is a waste, and they criticize her. Jesus, in his adept way of authority teaches her accusers two very important lessons.
One lesson is this: Honor your Savior. We honor him when we spiritually sit at his feet in prayer, when we listen to his voice and when we anoint him with our worship. We spend so little time, if any, doing these things. The perfume symbolizes a fragrant offering of complete devotion to our King. Give him your offering. Devote yourself to him.
The second lesson: Take care of the poor. Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us. This does not mean he wants people to be poor. He is condemning our selfish attitude. People criticized the woman for wasting the perfume. It could have helped the poor. But I wonder: Did they then go and work to relieve poverty and homelessness? Did they give a tithe of their income to people in need?
I don’t know. But I know we as people of Christ don’t tithe—give 10 per cent of our income to God as he instructs us to do. If we did, there would be more than enough money to care for people with legitimate needs. The welfare system would not exist as we know it. And more people would see Jesus in action and want to worship at his feet.
Let’s worship our Lord with our complete self and give to each other as there is need.
Pause and Consider: who among the poor do you need to help?
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