The story of the Lord is that He loves us; the story of Mary is that she loved the Lord with all that she had.
Let us consider Mary first. Her pouring of ointment on the Lord’s head and body was for His burial. Mary thought:
“I have seen my brother being raised from the dead, and He has stayed in our house many times. He comes frequently to Bethany. He is indeed my precious Savior. He has told His disciples four times that He will die (Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; 26:1-2), but the disciples did not understand what He meant. But I know that His death is for me. After He dies, men will surely anoint Him with ointments, frankincense, and myrrh. But I do not want to wait until He dies. I will anoint Him with the ointment, the frankincense, and the myrrh before He dies. I will pour out everything on Him. What is the use of pouring out all these things on Him after He has died? It is better to pour them on Him while He is living!”
An alabaster flask of ointment worth three hundred denarii was very expensive. Even now we cannot find ointment more expensive than this. Therefore, at that time, this must have been the most expensive ointment.
When did she do this? She did it while the Lord was reclining at the table. In other words, she did it secretly while the Lord was rejoicing and taking no notice of her. She did not tell the Lord ahead of time and did not let Him know what she was doing. She did it secretly to the Lord while nobody was watching.What does this mean?
Many people want salvation, but they do not want the Savior. They treasure salvation, but do not treasure the Savior. Many people treasure Christianity, but they do not treasure Christ. Many treasure the work of redemption, but do not treasure the Redeemer. Many people love the cross of Christ, but do not love the Christ of the cross.
The first thing many people ask is what profit they will receive if they believe in the Lord. They do not ask what kind of love they will have for the Lord if they believe in Him. But Mary knew, and this is where the difference lies. She knew that the Lord died for us and resurrected for us, and that we should offer Him our love and everything. Although she did not come from a wealthy family, she exchanged everything she had for the ointment of pure nard, and poured it on the Lord.
Mary poured out all she had on the Lord. Only she understood the Lord’s death.
On the first day of the week, several women went to the Lord’s grave to anoint His body with ointment and myrrh. But they were too late! Only this woman made it; all the other women missed it. Only she understood the Lord’s death, and only she had the offering and sacrifice.
Taken from http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=21DCD2
Recover our first love oh Lord!
Have we paid attention to our heart? Does our heart love the Lord? Love is entirely a matter of the heart. What is the direction of our heart? It is possible to shout Hallelujah while our heart is occupied with something else. This means that our heart, as well as our love, is not focused in the right direction. The Chinese phrase translated “absent-hearted” adequately describes this situation. If our heart is on something other than the Lord, there is a problem with our heart, and we should deal with it. We should also ask whether our heart is upright or crooked. A crooked heart is also a heart with a problem, and it is in need of the Lord’s dealing.
We should deal with the problems related to our heart. We should take care of not only releasing the spirit but also of having a proper heart. We should train our spirit as well as our heart.
“In order for us to be proper Christians, we need a spirit that is strong, living, fresh, rich, and bright; we also need a heart that is upright, single, and pure. “
Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” To be pure in heart is to want only the Lord and nothing else. It is also to have no impure motives but to be as clear as crystal. This is the proper condition of the heart.
Taken from http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=26DBD4EA
_receive mercy & find grace_ 