Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. John 12:3
This morning my daughter was talking about a music video she wanted to see that had the woman pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet. She asked me why she did this. I explained to her that she wanted show Jesus how much she loved him. She gave him her most important gift.
Then as any brilliant, spiritually in tune 5 year old would say, she said to me: “What is your most important gift that you will give to Jesus”? I was immediately humbled by the magnitude of those words. As I did my best to share what I would offer Christ, I realized that Christ doesn’t need “things” from us. He wants all of us.
What the woman did was pour all of herself: her treasures, her reputation, and abandonment of “self “onto Christ. She laid all of herself at the feet of Jesus as an offering. Mary also wiped the costly perfume from his feet with the tresses of her loosened hair.
This simple act proclaimed the self-humiliation and adoration of her unbounded love, seeing that the loosening of a woman’s hair was a mark of unusual self-abandonment.
As I think about this story, I think about my story. I think about 2016. I want to make this a year where I really do abandon “self” as an offering of love to Christ. I am not sure what that will exactly look like, but I know that when my heart is set on pleasing God and focused on living and loving him more… then I am moving into “righteousness.”
In my readings of the men in Genesis, I have learned that God called men righteousness when they really wanted to please God. He looked at the inside motivation of the heart. Did they fall short: absolutely. But it was their heart, what motivated them that made God call them righteous. Reading Genesis so far has made me have much more confidence in my own journey with God.
I pray as you move forward in this new chapter of your story, that you will give Christ “you”. That is all he wants and that makes you righteous my friend. Walk in that truth today.
Be blessed,
Jessica Cox
The profound question of a child!
Thanks for sharing!
What a sweet blog! It made me curious and I decided to look up spikenard. It turns out that the perfume Mary poured on Jesus’ feet was not like the perfumes we use today. Spikenard is a plant from which an essential oil is extracted, and it possesses some awesome attributes as anti-inflammatory, deodorant, anti-fungal, relaxant. Sounds great for the feet! Pouring the costly, pleasant-smelling oil to anoint her Master’s feet was an extravagant act that showed Mary’s great love for Him.