Isn't it funny how you can read a scripture over and over and yet not really see it. I came across such a verse this morning, reading in Mark chapter 16. I can't tell you the number of times I have read this, and even taught on it, but today it took on a whole other meaning and view.
V.1 - When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
So what's the big deal? A group of women going to do a good thing, right? Yes, they are going to do a good thing.........a thing that was expected to be done when someone died. An act that showed their love and devotion to Jesus. Take a second look at this verse. You don't see any of the guys there. The men who stood with Jesus and followed him during His time of ministry have all skedaddled.
The thing I had never noticed was that these women had "BOUGHT" the spices. For whatever reason, my jumbled thoughts always saw "BROUGHT". Big difference. In other words, these women had purchased these spices to honor Jesus. It costs them something. It cost them something personal to perform this act of love. They gave of themselves.
No different today....If I am going to be a follower of Jesus, it will cost me. You may be asking, "What will it cost to follow Him?" Are you ready for this? It will cost me (and you) everything. When you see and find the true value of who Jesus is, then giving up everything to follow Him seems like a small price. Truth be known, everything of this world either rusts, breaks, or simply disappears over time. Stock markets crash and wealth is lost. Bodies wear out and break down with age and health is lost. Selfishness and being self centered breaks down and destroy's relationships. And the list goes on and on and on.
I don't even have to mention how addiction is the killer of lives. Yet we refuse to change. we refuse to see the light and the life that is found in Christ. I fear that too many slide over the edge into eternity holding on to the things of this world, believing that such will afford them comfort and safety. What a horrible thought to be awakened to the fact that everything you held dear was merely stubble and had no power to save you.
Paul, in Romans 12, writes that we are to "Present our bodies as a living sacrifice". It doesn't call for us to present all our material possessions. It doesn't call for us to bring all our investments, stocks and bonds to lay on the altar. No! The altar demands that I climb up and lay down to the will of God and become a "Living Sacrifice". This is a daily action I take, because doing so removes "self" from the equation of how to live this day. I place myself under the will of God to simply listen, follow and do as He directs me.
Think on these things....
God on you....
Mbb
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