Something Beautiful for My Lord
She had sat on His teaching on the Bethany mountainside, and she had seen His miracles by the roadside. Today, she wanted to show Him how much she loved and honored Him - Jesus. She heard that Jesus was visiting Simon, one of her neighbors and so she made a plan.
Quickly finishing her house work, this excited Mark 14 girl, tipped her savings of over a year onto the mud floor of her humble home. We are not told what she had been saving for, but now she knew exactly what she wanted to buy. She ran with her bag of coins to the marketplace and then to Simon's home. Soon she was by Jesus' side anointing him with the most expensive perfume.
She was doing something beautiful for her Lord.
Tears flowed easily as she praised Him with her actions. She knew Him as her Lord, she remembered her past, her wrong choices, but she felt forgiven, loved and free now. She heard some murmurs and grumbling from people in the room, but Jesus’s words rang loud and clear! It was just what she needed.
A few weeks back as I read this account in Mark 14 verses 3-9, Jesus’ words encouraged me so much.
SHE HAS DONE A BEAUTIFUL THING FOR ME.
SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD.
I was reminded of times when I ‘did what I could’. A time when my quiet time with Jesus was silent prayers between sips of tea. At other times I wrote out my prayers in my journal or sang a hymn as a prayer. When my mother was sick in the hospital, I just couldn't read the Bible, but I sat with Jesus with my fears and questions. As a young mother I went through many days without a regular time with Jesus, before bedtime we huddled up, my boys and I, to sing a chorus and read from our big children's Bible.
And Jesus saw this as a beautiful thing for Him.
Each of us has our own unique way to show our love to Jesus and He loves it that way. So, if all you can give is a couple of cans for the soup kitchen, do it. If you read the Bible quietly in the University parking lot, do it. If you pray during your walk, make bookmarks with Bible verses for friends or carry one encouraging verse on your phone to read and meditate on, do it. If you can get to church only once a month because of the nature of your work, do it. If you have started a small prayer group in your dorm with your friends on a Saturday night, do it.
Each Monday I have a prayer date with my son who works overseas. Asking God to bless him with His presence, provision, and protection gives me peace. Doing it together reminds Meshak and me that our Lord transcends time and space. Kaila finds it difficult to go to church after her divorce. She and her daughter watch an online service each Sunday and later buy burgers for lunch, always buying one more to share with a lonely neighbor across the road. At the end of each academic year Neha backs up her set of used textbooks for her neighbor Roslyn who is a year younger than her. Roslyn’s Dad had lost his job and this was a big help for that family. As a group of 12 women, we gather online for a bilingual family Bible study each week. As I see my aunts, nieces, and cousins on the screen as we gather to pray and share from God’s word, I can hear Jesus’ whisper, “You have done a beautiful thing for me.”
“God is greater than our hearts, he knows everything.”
1 John 3:20
Let us find what we can do for Jesus and do it well, giving him all the glory and honor - in the kitchen, on the park bench, in the office, at the school cafe or in the University dorm.
“Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it for the Glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
We can hear Jesus say, “You did something beautiful for me’.’