WEDNESDAY 16 NOVEMBER - PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER WHAT YOU GIVE THEM

Matthew 26:7 NLT

While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

Read Matthew 26:6-13. How much are you willing to give to others? Are you miserly with your time, money or other resources? Or are you willing to sacrifice your time, money and resources to give to others? People remember those who make sacrifices for them.

Mary sacrificed a great deal to show her love to Jesus by anointing him with expensive perfume. The alabaster jar she carried it in was beautiful. It likely had a long, slender neck and was carved from translucent gypsum. It was beautiful and expensive. The pure and genuine nard from the mountains of India was also very expensive. We don’t know how Mary came to possess it, but it could have been a family heirloom. But she loved Jesus so much she was prepared to break the vase and pour all the ointment on Jesus’ head. It was a royal anointing, suitable for her Messiah. Jesus made it clear her sacrifice would be remembered and discussed, and now it appears in our holy scripture.

There is always a cost in giving to someone else. We must be prepared to give up our resources – time, money, talents, whatever – to give them to others. We must be willing to make sacrifices if we are going to be agents of healing in the world.

Those who gave their lives in the two world wars and conflicts since, gave the ultimate sacrifice, and in many ways helped to heal the world, if only for a little while. They are remembered today for that sacrifice. We may not be called to give the ultimate sacrifice. But every time we sacrifice something for the benefit of someone else, that deed will be remembered – both by the other person and by Jesus himself.

THINK IT OVER

Think about the following:

How do you use your worldly resources to benefit others?