“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
-Mark 14:6
As I was reading through Mark this morning, I came across this familiar story, in which a woman comes before Jesus as He is eating and pours the contents of an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment on him. It is an extravagant act of love and devotion!
However, some in the room criticize this woman for the clear waste. After all, they say, the jar “could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” But even in the face of this sound logic, Jesus defends and honors the woman. Tucked away in his defense of her worship and devotion is a phrase that struck me:
She has done a beautiful thing to me.
I want to live my life in such a way that, when I stand before God on that great day, He will say to me: “Well done, good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of your master.” The other thing I would love to hear my Lord say about me is this: “[He] has done a beautiful thing to me.” The possibility of hearing those words makes my heart jump for joy. Wouldn’t
you love to hear God say that about you?
- That time you choose love over of hate: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
- That time you choose purity over lust: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
- That time you invested in “the least of these”: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
- That time you choose to honor God instead of indulging in sin: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
- That time you gave to the poor instead of buying that new toy: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
- That time you stood up for Jesus when everyone around you thought you were crazy: “He/she has done a beautiful thing to me.”
May we live with a burning conviction to honor Christ above all and to do beautiful things in His name!
Pastor Kenneth
