An Alabaster Box

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured [it] on his head. –Mark 14:3

This woman, only identified in this passage as a woman, came and broke an alabaster box of Spikenard (literally: Liquid Nard, a bearded grass that in the mountain area of India and was very costly) ironically was stored in an inexpensive but decorative soft limestone box of alabaster. A few interesting thoughts came to mind as I meditated on this passage:

• The oil was inside the box and could not come out till it was broken. In correlation: God has placed the Holy Spirit inside the Christian and we need to be broken, not physically as the box but spiritually as David cried “The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 52:17). We need to be broken so God’s love can come out through us. What does it take to break you? When is the last time you wept over the lost in your neighborhood? On your job? In your family?
• She gave the very best she had and poured it out on Jesus, yet the disciples, those closest to Him saw it as a waste (Mark 14:4). Second truth: nothing we do for Jesus is a waste, and He is truly worthy of the best we have to offer Him!
• Final thought: people can tell more about my attitude by my actions than my words. What sermon am I preaching with my life? Is it glorifying God?

Just something to think about.

~ by brtom on June 11, 2007.