This morning my devotional was about the women, named Mary, (sister to Martha and Lazarus) who broke open the alabaster jar and poured it’s precious contents over Jesus’ head and feet. I thought about this action off and on throughout the day today. You can go to Matthew 26, Mark 14, and/or John 12 to read through this story.
My first thought was that it was reckless!
Reckless: adjective
- (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.
My second thought was, what lead her to do such a thing? Did she wake up that day and say to herself, “you know, what is the most expensive thing I own? Oh yeah, that bottle of perfume. I think I’ll dump that out on Jesus next time I see him. He’ll love that.”
Or was she actually listening to Him when He predicted His death? Was she aware that His time with them was growing painfully short? Painfully short indeed. Jesus would cry out, “it is finished” within 3 days, and all of their lives would be changed forever.
My third thought was am I that in tune with Jesus that I sense His needs and set out to meet them?
And finally I thought about the song we just sang on Sunday, “Reckless Love”. It is a song that honors the overwhelming, never ending reckless love that Jesus displayed for humanity, for me, when He very intentionally cast aside the cost of His life in exchange for mine. It wasn’t a careless mistake it was a planned and thoughtfully heedless action. So the question, and my final thought was do I love Him with abandon the way Mary did? The way Jesus loved me? With even a fraction of that passion and intensity?
Is my love reckless? Is my service reckless? Or is it cautious? Safe? Guarded?
How about yours?