Audacious -- Week 7
Read: John 12: 1-6
Reflect: How precious is this story? As a child, I read it so many times. I heard it read even more times. I don’t know that I was ever moved by it. Isn’t that so sad!
I just didn’t get it. Perfume? Feet? Tears and hair? Why did I need to hear about all of that. Goodness….. Do I get it now! Mary took a very expensive jar of perfume, broke it, and poured the fragrant oil over Jesus’ feet. It was the ultimate act of humility, and it was the perfect expression of love.
Mary was ridiculed for what she did, and I imagine she couldn’t have cared any less. I love the way Beth says it, “Nobody can tell you what to do with the things that cost you. They are yours. Like every scar, they are part of how you are marked with originality. But you have the right, if you audaciously insist, to pour every last ounce on the feet of Jesus.” (Audacious, page 84)
See, the audacious lives we choose to live in spite of and because of the difficult journey we’ve faced are our fragrant and costly gift to the One who loved us through it all. No one gets to tell you how to offer it. Nobody can instruct you on the proper way to join Jesus in the work that He’s doing in your life. But, I promise we won’t fully live until we’re so overwhelmed by His love that no sacrifice is too costly. We were made to GO FOR IT! So, let’s do it.
Respond: Even as I’m asking you to consider lavishly loving Jesus with your life, I’m thinking about the “Judas” that exists in all of our lives just waiting to ridicule us for our gift. You know it will happen. So, let’s prepare our line of defense ahead of time. Beth asked us to consider being audacious enough to tell the enemy to “Move!”
I dare you to fill your journal today with a ridiculous and fragrant outpouring of love and gratitude for Jesus, your Savior. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up this week. And, then, if your Enemy still has any negativity left, find a creative way to silence him. Plan your first step of verve and adventure. Take joy in the fact that each step you take towards living the outward joy that comes from fully receiving God’s grace in Jesus is one more nail in the Satan’s coffin. He knows he has no power over us. His only hope is to make you and I believe something other than the truth of our victory in Jesus.
Renew: Rest in Jesus as you listen to the words of this song….
