What Did The Contents Of Your Alabaster Box Cost You?
Mark 14:3-6 (Amplified Bible)
3And while He was in Bethany, [a guest] in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining [at table], a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment (perfume) of pure nard, very costly and precious; and she broke the jar and poured [the perfume] over His head.
4But there were some who were moved with indignation and said to themselves, To what purpose was the ointment (perfume) thus wasted?
5For it was possible to have sold this [perfume] for more than 300 denarii [a laboring man's wages for a year] and to have given [the money] to the poor. And they censured and reproved her.
6But Jesus said, Let her alone; why are you troubling her? She has done a good and beautiful thing to Me [praiseworthy and noble].
God has graced my life with many people. I have traveled to different parts of the world and encountered many people from many different walks of life. But I feel honored and Blessed to have the Pastor I have and to have met four truly inspiring and anointed Sisters in Christ that are called to and have answered the call to the ministry. The uniqueness of these individuals is beyond there character integrity and the way that they live it has been in what they have endured. I Timothy 2:3-4 says, “3 Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.” This has been something that I have watched each one of these individuals do, they have chosen the gospel in spite of everything thrown at them. I know most are reading this and saying it could be that bad, well, one has ministered through Chemotherapy, not once, not twice, but several times, one was sick and did not know what was going on in her body for years, and still answered the call, and when they found the source of the problem found that her internal organs were mangled and fused together to the point she almost lost her life. One has over come different types of cancer and has ministered so weak she could barely speak, from a wheel chair, lastly, my heart and mentor, had miscarriage after miscarriage and still chose God’s call in spite of her losses.
Many times I looked at my Pastor and hid dynamic ministry and I have witnessed the anointing and served under these four anointed sold out women and often thought in a fleeting moment, I wish I was as anointed as they are. But in the moment, when the oils of God’s anointing oozed from their very being and the fragrance of His power filled every nostril in the room, I did not ever give thought to what the oil, the spikard, the spices in them cost them. It something to desire a call of God that is poured out like water to the people of God, but it comes with a price. For it is not just the suffering but the time spent in study, consecration and prayer that moves us up in the ranks of God’s anointing and makes what we possess become more fragrant, special and costly. It also comes with the sacrifice of doing things God’s way no matter what.
For many of us what we carry can be purchased at the dollar store. For there has been nothing that has been endured, sacrificed or stripped away, for others ( like those mentioned above), the cost has been great and they still walk through fiery furnaces, lions dens and beds of affliction to pour themselves out before their maker. So looking at what theirs cost, how does yours measure up? Where much is given much is required. Where fragrance is plentiful and spices are rare the cost is high, are you willing to pay?
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