Tag Archives: alabaster

Extravagant giving may not be so bad (John 12-7-8), March 16, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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  1. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  2. Have you ever given someone an extravagant gift and others kind of scolded you about it? We probably all have if you think back through your life. Men can think about that tiny little rock on their fiance’s finger. That’s a lot of money for such a small thing, isn’t it? But is it really extravagant? Jesus got one of those gifts one day and everyone complained.
  3. Scripture
    1. John 12:7-8
    2. Jesus:  Leave her alone. She has observed this custom in anticipation of the day of My burial.  The poor are ever present, but I will be leaving.
  4. Devotional
    1. When young men get down on their knees and ask for a young lady’s hand in marriage, she usually expects a gold or white gold ring with at least one diamond in it, right? It’s just the way of things, or it least it has been for a long time.
      1. Diamonds are measured in karats
      2. 200 milligrams which is 7/1000’s ounce
      3. Perfect cut and highest quality 1 carat diamond is $17,000
      4. Is that extravagant?
      5. Ask your fiance
    2. Jesus and His disciples were eating with Lazarus at his home in Bethany
      1. Martha was working as hostess serving the guests
      2. Mary sat at Jesus feet and poured pure nard
      3. Comes from a plant grows to about 1 meter (3 ft) in height and has pink, bell-shaped flowers. It is found in the Himalayas in Nepal, China, and India at an altitude of about 9,800 to 16,400 ft. Rhizomes (underground stems) can be crushed and distilled into an intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil, which is very thick in consistency.
      4. Other gospels tell us she broke an alabaster jar to pour out the precious liquid
      5. The alabaster stone from which the jar was carved probably came from the quarries of Alabastron in Egypt, the place from which the stone for the sarcophagus for Seti I and many of the canopic jars came
      6. Each item on its own cost months or maybe even years of labor wages for their purchase
    3. Not just Judas, but several of the disciples who were with Jesus complained about the waste
      1. Look at what that money could have bought
      2. Look how many people we could have fed
      3. Look what we could have done for the poor
      4. Look how much ministry we could have done if she had sold that perfume and given the money to us instead of pouring it out on your feet
      5. Jesus, scold her!
    4. He didn’t
      1. Sometimes extravagance is the right thing to do
      2. She showed extravagant love through her gift to the One who set her free
      3. We give extravagantly to the one we wish to live with for the rest of our lives
      4. We think nothing of shelling out those months of pay to put the right ring on our bride’s finger
      5. Why should we complain when someone pours out an expression of love for their savior?
  5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How about that tenth commandment? (Matthew 26:10-13) June17, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 7-12

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 26:10-13
Jesus: Why don’t you leave this woman alone? She has done a good thing. It is good that you are concerned about the poor, but the poor will always be with you—I will not be. In pouring this ointment on My body, she has prepared Me for My burial. I tell you this: the good news of the kingdom of God will be spread all over the world, and wherever the good news travels, people will tell the story of this woman and her good discipleship. And people will remember her.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

A woman, other writers identify as Mary Magdalene comes into the house where Jesus is eating. Breaks open a jar filled with alabaster, a very expensive perfume, and proceeds to pour it on Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her long hair. Some of the disciples are indignant and complain about the waste of this expensive gift and admonish her, telling her she should have sold it and given the proceeds to the poor.

Are you ever guilty of the disciples’ error? I have to admit, I have been. And I’m pretty sure if you thought about it a little bit, you’ve probably been guilty of the same error. Someone doing good for another person and we stick our nose in it and complain about it. We think they should be doing something else instead. Essentially, that’s what the disciples were saying. Hey, Jesus. Why are you letting her waste that perfume on your feet? She could be doing something else with the money that stuff costs.

So many times we want to second guess the good actions of other people. Did you every stop to think that maybe God prompted that person to do that act at that time for that person for a particular reason? Maybe that person needed some encouragement at just that time to keep them on track in their spiritual journey. Maybe the act performed was just the demonstration of God’s love that convinced the recipient that God is real and pointed them to His saving grace and merciful forgiveness.

We don’t know why God prompts His children to do particular things at particular times. But sometimes He does. And sometimes those acts may seem extravagant to some. But what causes us to think that way in the first place? I think it’s often that tenth commandment that gets in the way. He didn’t do that for me, so why should he do it for her? I didn’t get that extra helping of potatoes so why should He? The church recognized them for cleaning up the yard, I was there, too, why didn’t I get mentioned? Can you say covet?

We let our selfishness get in the way. Even the disciples’ comment harks back to selfishness. They wanted their plans carried out, not God’s. Why are you letting her pour perfume on you, instead of doing what we want here to do with it? If it’s up to us, we would sell it and take care of other people. Our plan is to use the proceeds for other purposes. We want to do what we want to do. Isn’t that essentially what they’re saying here? It sure sounds like it to me.

That’s the problem we have when we begin to criticize the good actions of others. When we try to categorize and assume something better or something different or something else that fits our plans should be done instead of the good work an individual is prompted to carry out for God with their personal property, we get ourselves in trouble. It’s that tenth commandment thing rearing its ugly head. We need to be on our guard as soon as it pops out of its hole.

If it’s the church’s money or an organization’s money, the answer might be different. Then the property belongs to God and is managed by a council or pastor on behalf of the congregation that it serves. In that case, there are boundaries within which to operate because the funds are not one person’s. The property is not one person’s. The decisions are not solely one person’s. So when one person does something outside the guidelines and boundaries the congregation prayerfully sets in place through the leadership of the church, there may be reason to criticize one person’s waste of the congregation’s resources.

But personal resources, when God says to do something, it’s always best to listen and do it. As with Mary’s case, there was a purpose. She prepared Jesus for burial because the women would not have time on the day He died. She probably didn’t even think about what she was doing when she went to see Jesus and anoint Him with her perfume. But as Jesus said, “wherever the good news travels, people will tell the story of this woman and her good discipleship. And people will remember her.”

Will the same be said about you for the good you do to others or because of the criticism you have for the good deeds others have done? How about that tenth commandment? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.