What's Your Price?

"A woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me." (Matthew 26:7-12)



What happens when the religion becomes bigger than the God? What about when the acts of service start to become more important than serving Him? That's what is going on with the disciples in this passage. Maybe they were looking for Jesus' approval, maybe a word of praise from Him. It's like they were writing scripture while the Word was right there with them. In any case, Jesus quickly corrects them. And I must say I love what He is saying to them. True worship. Him first. That's what He is looking for. Not rituals, not service, not witnessing, not anything. Just Him. The first and most important thing to God is our relationship with Him. He wants that above all. When He says we will always have the poor with us, substitute any word you want in place of poor; sick, hurting, fallen, lost, sinners, any of them. I believe He wants us to understand that without our relationship with Him being whole, it won't matter what we do. He'll take care of them in His time. We must have Him in His rightful place.



Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed our thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. (vv. 14-16)



So it's still about the money. Or is it? Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with monetary gain. I think it's just about being weak. "Weak, unspiritual people all have a price to turn their backs on Jesus." So says the Reverend Benji Fowler. For Judas, money was the gratification. What about you and I? Money, success, career, fame, personal glory, relationships, people, church? You name it. Anything can be an idol. Any one of these things can cause us to sell Him out for our own gain. The only hope of avoiding this is to keep Him in the center of our lives. Not our rules, religion, or our own chosen direction, but just simply Him.

What's your price? Have you already named it?

Prayer

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:16-19