I read in my quiet time today a familiar passage about the woman who brought a jar of precious perfume to pour over Jesus' head. As he was present for a supper in the home of a leprous man named Simon, she enters and pours the bottle of perfume on Christ's head, annointing him with it. Jesus knew her intentions and did not stop her or berate her, yet the disciples questioned her and then Christ. He pointed out that she was doing so as if to prepare him for his burial, knowing His time was about to come. She had no shame, no hesitation and what an act of love she performed for the Lord. What will we give to Him as a sign of our obedience, our love for His precious gift of eternal life? Every year at the time of Passover I sacrifice something in my life, give up something I really enjoy to pause for true reflection upon what Christ did for me on the cross. For you it may be time to truly break a habit, an addiction you have carried for a long time or it may be a luxury that you have come to realize is just that, a luxury and something you really don't need. Where is our focus? To extend that challenge, how long are you willing to give it up? There are some things I admit I gave up for a time but then went right back to them. This is a challenge for myself as well, so I hope you will join me in breaking free from something in your life as a tangible sign you are truly committed to Christ. We are to be like Him and not like the world, set apart for a purpose, serving the least of these as if we were serving the Lord. What will you do today for Christ?
Joy and Light
Early Tuesday morning January 2, 2024, I got a call that my Mom was slipping away and the family should come. We knew she was not doing well these past couple of weeks as she had developed pneumonia and covid, and she was struggling just to manage breathing. When I arrived, the nurse brought me in to Mom's bedside, and quietly stepped out to give me some time alone with her before my Dad and my brother arrived. I cried like I have never cried before in my life, and went to my knees beside her, resting my hand on her arm. I have no words to describe what it felt like in that moment, the finality and the reality of it. My brain understood she was gone, no longer there. But my heart, regardless of how far gone Mom had been for years now..... my heart was suddenly flooded with the feelings, the sounds, the memories of her across my entire life, rushing through my head in that moment all at once. It felt like time kind of stopped, s...
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