Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Lenten Devotional...March 23

Matthew 26:6-13

“I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.”
(Matthew 26:13)

How will you be remembered?  As with many things these days, we consider such a question from the extremes.  One might humbly say that he or she has done nothing noteworthy that anyone would remember.  Someone else might brashly profess a desire to be somebody, as if notoriety was the greatest goal of life. Ignoring your gifts or thinking too highly of yourself, however, aren’t the best reasons to be remembered.

In those last hours before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, Matthew tells the powerful story of a woman who comes to Jesus, bestowing upon him a great gift. It is not a gift of wealth, though the perfume she brings was likely quite expensive.  She didn’t come seeking notoriety or to make a bold statement. Jesus said that by pouring the perfume on his head, she was preparing his body for burial.  It was a gift of love and appreciation that his followers could not understand.  And yet, Jesus said that what she had done would be remembered whenever the good news was told.  Two thousand years later, I am telling and you are reading her story…she is being remembered.

In a moment, under relatively routine circumstances something marvelous was done.  The host, Simon, didn’t recognize the significance.  The disciples seemed clueless. Jesus, however, knew that a heart had been transformed and the resulting kindness was worth remembering.  In the small things, the seemingly unimportant movements of your day, it is quite possible that something you say or do will be remembered by someone.  With every step, every word, and every action, you may share the good news of Christ that will one day be remembered.

Prayer: Lord, guide my words and steps that your love may be remembered through me. Amen.


Jim Abernathy

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