Sunday, March 25: Mark 14:1—15:47
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
When we hear this story, what do we think? “What a waste of money that could have helped the poor”? Or do we say: “I too would have poured the ointment to prepare Jesus for his burial.”
As Christians, we help the needy and the poor. We set money aside from our budgets for that reason: We give $20 to this organization, and $20 to that one, and so on. But to be most like Mary and to perform a good service for Jesus, I feel it is when we help the needy and poor unexpectedly. The Lord seems to have you in the right place at the right time to be like Mary and perform a good service. For me, several times I’ve been in the grocery store, and in line at the checkout counter the person in front of me seem to have lost or misplaced their money, or maybe the Lord told them “Go get what you need; I’ll take care of it for you.” So I tell the cashier to just add my stuff to theirs and I’ll pay for it all. And when I have to work Saturday or Sunday, I always stop at McDonald’s to get my coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and I’m driving to work and there are times when at the red light there is someone with a sign that says “Hungry, will work for food” or something like that. And I give my sandwich to that person. I’d give my coffee but I have already drunk half of it.
It is said to never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing, but sometimes the Lord needs other people to see how God does provide for the needy and the poor.
The Lord will bless you. I know.