WE HAVE BEEN TOLD that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That could be true! I know what is beautiful to me and you know what is beautiful to you. In preparing a lesson for a Ladies Bible Study, I have used the same passage several times about Mary anointing Jesus' feet. There is so much beauty in these passages. So much emotion! But this morning, in looking in the book of Mark, I saw something beautiful. I saw something so revealing about Jesus.
CHAPTER 14, verses 3-9, we read the story of a dinner held at the home of Simon the Leper. According to my studies, Simon was married to Martha, the sister of Mary. While the men were reclining at the table, Mary came in with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard. She broke it and poured it over His head. Some were indignant and made comments about wasting this perfume that could have been sold and the money given to the poor. If you recall, Judas was one of these men! Jesus said; "Let her alone! Why do you bother her?" "She has done a beautiful thing to me!"
BECAUSE of my brother Lloyd's inability to walk well anymore, or even to bathe completely, Gene and Joetta would drive a distance just to wash Lloyd's feet. When my sister started doing this, she could get down on the floor easily. As time moved on she would sit on a stool. No matter how she felt, she would wash and manicure his feet. Everyone had taken their turn doing things for Lloyd but no one thought to do that for him, except Joetta. Lloyd suffered much with his paralysis, but Joetta also suffered with Rheumatoid Arthritis and I could not hear her pain. Would you say, She did a beautiful thing to Jesus?
HAVE YOU THOUGHT about what you have done for Jesus that is a "beautiful thing?" As I read that passage, I felt pricked in my heart. What have I done for Jesus, that He would consider a beautiful thing? When I asked Jim about this, he reminded me of Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus speaks of judgment. He speaks of a time when; "I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; I was naked and you clothe me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me!" The king in question responded with; "when did I do these things?" Jesus says; "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
I IMAGINE, you and I have done beautiful things to our Jesus when we have called upon the sick; visited those in prison; helped by bringing food and clothing for the poor. I imagine you and I have done beautiful things to our Jesus when we shared financially with causes that would benefit the poor, and loving one another! I don't usually look upon anything that I do as being a beautiful thing but I am wrong.
WHEN WE THINK of the things that the Apostles and the Disciples went through in establishing God's church; when we think of the things that Missionaries all over the world suffered for the cause of Christ; when we think of the anguish that our Pastors and Elders experience because of their flocks; do we see these things as being a beautiful thing to Jesus. Indeed, they are beautiful!
WE FIND it hard to lay our burdens down at the feet of Jesus but how much harder is it to realize the beautiful things He desires of our hearts. When I am writing a morning glory I never know where it will lead. This morning it leads me to the foot of the cross, where Jesus said; "Forgive them, they know not what they do!" Oh my heart!
CAN WE say like David; "I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High?" Psalm 7:17 Can our prayer be; "Use me Lord; Thy will be done!" By Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/11/10
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What lovely thoughts! I constantly have to remind myself that Jesus takes our treatment of ALL others personally. But I hadn't thought of them being "beautiful" in His sight. That rather elevates those things we can do to bless others.
Our Stephanie, that we are doing the guest house with, is so very good at this. She loves to bless the socks off of people. What a servant heart. She is so excited to get the guest house up and running so she has a steady stream of people to bless. She is certainly a blessing to us. She is Mary and Martha all wrapped up in one. She does so many "beautiful things" for others.
Thanks for your "beautiful" thoughts.
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