Nard (8/17/08)

Jn.12:3 - “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” I love Mary’s attitude here; she pours out a pint of expensive perfume, a seeming waste of money and resources, as an expression of love for God. She valued nothing more than time with Jesus. The fragrance of her offering filled the house as will the testimony of every act of worship I express to God. I want to extravagantly love Christ, pouring out things of value at His feet, worshiping Him with my life, resources, hopes, dreams, desires and goals. What is your nard? What treasures do you protect so carefully that not even Christ is worthy of? I think my nard is time. I am a “go getter,” I am organized, on top of it and I make things happen. That very attitude robs me of the only thing that matters. Mary knew the “one thing that matters,” intimacy with Christ, loving and being loved by Him, and chose that, over all the things that needed to be done (Lk.10:38-42). I want to live that life worthy of His gospel (Phil.1:27) and worthy of Him, pleasing Him in every way (Col.1:10). Ps.76:11 tells us, “Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.” When I give gifts to God that cost me nothing (2 Sam.24:24) I experience only shallow fellowship with Him. When I come to the place where I am willing to pour out my most valuable and treasured resources, at His feet, I experience true intimacy with Him. Time is my nard. I feel so guilty about resting or wasting a minute of time and that often distracts me from a wholehearted focus on Him. He is worth more than whatever I need to accomplish today. Nothing, in all of life, compares with Him and intimacy with Him (Phil.3:7). I want that reckless abandon, a willingness to love God so radically that people will look at me and think it makes no sense. It is in the abandonment and neglect of what seems so important, that I experience what is truly important.