Time and Money

“And being at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on Jesus’ head.” Mark 14:3

People were constantly taken back by the way Jesus did things. We would to if He did them today. We accept what Jesus did because we see Him as the Son of God and He can do no wrong. We accept Him because His actions are safely removed by thousands of years. But here we see Jesus involved in a curious use of both time and money.

First we see the time Jesus spent. Here He is at the house of Simon the leper. Lepers were the untouchable. They were considered unclean and usually banished from the city to live in special colonies so their contagious skin disease would not infect others. In fact, the leper was to shout out a warning to passer-bys by saying, “unclean, unclean” so people could keep their distance. Not only did Jesus reach out and touch these “untouchables” but He also spent time in Simon’s house. An amazing use of time when you think about the entire world Jesus came to save. Of all the things He could be doing with his time, Jesus chose to spend some of the precious time of His short 33 years with this man. What graciousness!

Second we see money being spent on Jesus. This perfume was worth thousands of dollars and was poured out on Jesus. Once this perfume flask was broken open and the perfume poured out, it could not be returned or recovered. It was a “once-and-for-all” act. Understandably, many wondered if this was the best use of such resources. But Jesus allowed for the oil to be spent in an act of worship toward Him that would go down in eternal history. What others considered a waste of money was considered by Jesus to be a wise investment.

Looking at both of these example of the use of time and money in just one verse gives us precious insight into the ways of God. If our time and money is used for the kingdom of God and worship of Jesus, it is anything but wasted. Others may not value this use of these precious commodities, but God does. May we spend our time and money on things that matter for eternity.

Today’s prayer: “Lord help me to use my tie and money for Your glory not mine.”

Keep looking up,
Pastor Gary