From the Heart

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
John 12:1-11

 [God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

This year will be my wife and my 47^th wedding anniversary! I’ve never paid much attention to what you’re supposed to give your wife for an anniversary gift based on the year. However, apparently, year # 48 is “home improvement”. We did that this year by having our bathroom remodeled. Can that count for our 47^th?

 

This does raise the question of, “How do you show your love to someone special”?

 

The obvious answer is that you try to make them feel special by spending time with them, giving them a thoughtful gift and telling them how much you love them. However, sometimes the most effective way of saying “I love you”, is not using words, but a spontaneous expression from the heart. That’s what Mary of Bethany did.

 

Six days before the Passover, when Jesus would be crucified, he went to Bethany to visit his good friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They were having a dinner in Jesus’ honor; something about raising Lazarus from the dead. During the dinner, Martha was busy serving, but not Mary.

 

³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.          NLT

 

The value of the perfume was nearly a year’s wage for a laborer. In today’s economy, that could be $50,000 or more. But it wasn’t the size of the gift that mattered, it was Mary’s heart; and Mary had a tender heart.

 

Previously, when Lazarus had died and Mary approached Jesus, she was so overcome with emotion that she fell at his feet and cried.

 

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled… ³⁵ Jesus wept.           John 11 NIV

 

Mary was showing her love and grief, not because it was the right thing to do, or because it was expected, but because it was a natural expression of her heart.

 

How easy it is to lose sight of our heart; to show our faith out of habit; to think, “I’m a good Christian. I go to church, serve on a committee, pray, read my Bible and tithe”. But our Heavenly Father doesn’t want those things as much he wants our heart.

 

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.        Hosea 6:6 NLT

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams