As I reflect on today’s passage, I see Jesus, the woman, and the disciples. Jesus knows that His time to die is near. His sole purpose for coming to earth was to reconcile the world to God through His death. He has told the disciples, but the information doesn’t mean much to them. Then comes the woman with the expensive oil. She had Jesus as her priority and wanted to worship Him with her precious possession.
The woman’s act didn’t make sense to the disciples. They imagined that Jesus would like them to provide for the poor. And they were right. Jesus loves the poor; He spent a lot of His time caring for and healing them. But at that moment, the disciples missed the priority; they didn’t catch what Jesus wanted in real-time. Their eyes might have been on duties and not on Jesus.
I look at my walk with God and see times when I have focused on Christian duties rather than having my eyes on Jesus. I confused “good works” with God’s heart. Let me say that I was sometimes self-absorbed, thinking that my calling was to step into bad situations and save the day. I was wrong. Our Sovereign God oversees the universe, and He can do anything and everything without us, but He chooses us to be part of His mission story. I have found that when I focus on God, He purifies my motives in the place of worship. He also gives me instructions on the “good works” that matter to Him at each moment.
I also see in the passage that Jesus gave the disciples a spoiler alert; people would remember the woman’s deed when talking about Him. Talk about a legacy. If we are honest, we may admit that we sometimes do good works for recognition. I wonder if that was one of the disciples’ motivations to help the poor.
Jesus is calling us to be devoted to Him. He calls us to love our God with all our hearts, souls, strengths, and minds. He calls us to focus on Him always and not be engrossed by the thought of saving the world.
For reflection:
- Reflect on your current walk with God. Are you focused on God or on “Christian duties”?
- Ask God to purify your motives and have Jesus as your focus daily.
by Tolu Osemwegie
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