Day 234: Sweet Worship

John 12:1-26; 2 Chronicles 14-15; Psalm 77

Only 8 verses in to John 12 and man, there's a lot to discover! First, Mary pours very expensive perfume on Jesus' feet. For some reason, John records this very poetic line: "and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house." Why would he record that? It was a beautiful act of worship that Mary was performing, an action that we should emulate in spirit. But this line? I think this is representative of the incredible beauty that a true act of worship and sacrifice has. The sweet smell filled the house and everyone knew what had been done, they could experience it too, its presence was strong and apparent to everyone there. The same is true when we worship The Lord. When our hearts pour out in humility and love, when we sacrifice our best, when we love of Jesus the way we were designed to do and the way he deserves: the evidence of it is beautiful and permeates all the space around us. People will see it, feel it, experience it, be moved by it. Way to go Mary.

Contrast that with stinky Judas. He masquerades as being holy but his heart is selfish and set on money. "Why wasn't that money given to the poor?" he asks. Does he really care about the poor? No, because what he really means is "why was that money wasted"? Geez, this kind of question gets asked by a lot of skeptics in the church. People give their money to people in need, they buy something for the church, and the question that is in the hearts of those whose lord is money, wonder why the money was wasted on that. Worship and sacrifice of and for Jesus. That's what Mary was showing us. May we follow her example, not Judas'.

Ok, normally I only write one comment per story, but this is just too good. The "chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus." For heaven's sake, why? He's not Jesus, he's not healing people, he's not the leader! Maybe not, but he is an example of the saving power of The Lord, a testament to what God can do, living proof of the life Jesus gives. His word and life are in some ways just as powerful for listeners as Christ's were. People, this should be us! We have been saved, risen, brought to life by our Lord! It says in the scripture that "he was the reason that many of the Jewish people were turning from there and putting their faith in Jesus." His story of salvation is very similar to our own. People should be hearing our story and want to put their faith in Jesus. I'm just as guilty as the next person of keeping Jesus a secret, and this is something I definitely need to work on. But wow, way to go Lazarus.

Check this out: "a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat." So awesome! If we do not give up our lives for The Lord, we will never amount to much. Our influence, our faith, our service will never mean anything or be very powerful. But, if we surrender our life for Jesus, he can make our life matter in an eternal way.

Asa destroyed, smashed, cut down, and destroyed again. Is he a violent guy? No, he is obeying God. This is how God wants us to take care of the idols in our lives and in this world. We are not to hide them in the closest, shove them to the back, cover them up. The Lord blessed this guy for tearing these things down and telling everyone to worship God. Asa even makes his grandma mad because she had build a "disgusting idol" and so he "cut it down, crushed it, and burned it." Then he removed her from her royal position. Idols of any kind are dangerous, Asa knew this, and was not afraid to confront his own family about it.