Every bottle of perfume always ends up on the floor

I am revisiting the Mary and Martha situation. John 12:1-3:
     Six days before Pesach, Yeshua came to Beit-Anyah, where El`azar lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead; 2 so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta served the meal, and El`azar was among those at the table with him. 3 Miryam took a whole pint of pure oil of spikenard, which is very expensive, poured it on Yeshua's feet and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  

Martha (aka Marta) makes a meal to honor Jesus. Yes! And then Mary (aka Miryam) takes out the perfume and anoints Jesus' feet. What is remarkable to me is the combination of service and worship, and yet "the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume". I would assume the food Martha prepared wasn't just coldcuts and crackers; she probably spent all day baking and roasting and cooking. The house would be filled with the aroma of the wonderful meal. When Mary poured out the oil it would have overwhelmed the delicious smells of the meal.

Jesus did not despise the meal, and he did not praise the sacrifice over it, but the text speaks for itself: the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the fragrance anointing would follow us around, long after the food was eaten? That the worship offered through service would linger like oil, staying on our fingertips for days, blessing anyone we came into contact with?

I am thankful our L-rd values service and worship. He wants both and created all of us so differently so we can compensate for each other and learn from one another. So I'll continue in this service/worship wrestle until He returns.

One person who has encouraged my spirit in the last year is John Mark McMillan. Cassidy knows the chorus of this song, and it's become a bit of an anthem in our family. He has the perfect balance of lyrical and musical ability, so rare and so powerful. Blessings!

The 4th of Elul

Today, according to the Hebrew calendar, is Ezekiel's heavenly birthday. The gospel reading for this week, according to Kingdom Living, is John 11 -- The Resurrection of Lazarus.

This last week my inner Mary and Martha duked it out. By nature I am a doer; accomplishing tasks is easy and enjoyable for me. Assembling support letters and the details that went into that was a great job for me. Designing a web-site, writing our story and ministry purpose was fun. But if it's not on my checklist then it's hard for me. And spending time with the L-rd is one of those things that doesn't feel right to put on a checklist. As I was jogging today I listened to a song from Matt Gilman and the words of the chorus are: What are you doing? Where are you going? You were made to sit at His table.

This is not just for me folks. Go read John 11, because you were made to sit at His table.