Precious
This fresh set of Daily Devotions is being provided for our LCA/NZ family, friends and visitors to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face unsettling times. They can be used by families and individuals as part of the LCA/NZ’s Church@Home resources to encourage us and build trust in our Heavenly Father during this season of uncertainty and physical isolation.
by Kathy Matuschka
Click here for your printable verse to carry with you today.
It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial (John 12:7).
Read John 12:1-12
Each of the gospel writers tells a story of a woman, her perfume and her hair. In John’s account, the identity of the woman is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and we are told that she has saved her perfume for this day.
This reminds me that when I was young, I tended to save gifts I considered precious. I’d put them aside so that they wouldn’t be broken, so that I would still have them when it was the right time for using them, or because I didn’t trust myself to use them wisely yet. (More than once, I saved my Easter chocolates so long that they turned white!)
When Jesus, her friend, teacher and her brother’s healer arrived, Mary knew that the time was right to use her precious perfume. She poured it out in an extravagant gesture that simultaneously honoured Jesus and shamed herself.
As we follow Jesus this week, perhaps there will be some Mary moments for each of us. Are you feeling the urge to do something unprecedented with the gifts and inclinations the Holy Spirit has planted within you? Then go for it! At other times this week we’ll honour Jesus by continuing to serve just as we always do (like Martha) or by reclining with Jesus (as Lazarus does in this story).
Whatever this week will hold, we know that Jesus honours each of us with his presence in our homes, because we too are his dear friends through the power of his cross.
Dear Jesus, with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, we also honour you in our homes and in our hearts. Lead us this holy week and grant us the wisdom and courage to follow. Amen.
