September 2001:  Mary of Bethany--Experiencing the Love of God in the Midst of Pain

"Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."  --John 12:3

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.  Overcome by her love for Jesus, Mary wholeheartedly abandoned herself to Him, sitting at His feet and anointing Him with her inheritance, an expensive perfume.  She gave up everything she had and gained everything in return, even though she had endured so much grief and pain in her life.  Despite what anyone around her thought, she did the only thing that she could in the presence of her King.  I love this picture!  We are all called to be lovers of Jesus.  This is our primary purpose on the earth--to love Jesus, who paid the price for our sins that He could have us as His spotless Bride.  Our lives here on earth serve to purify us and make us ready for the wedding feast.  This does not mean that God allows bad things to happen to us or that the suffering we go through is from God.  God does not want any of us to suffer, but we live in a fallen world where God has chosen, for reasons only known to God, to give us humans free will and responsibility.  Sometimes this causes us a lot of pain.  Sometimes we lose people we love, even our precious children.  But even in this difficult and painful experience, we can draw closer to God, just as Mary did.  Her life wasn't perfect and she had suffered great pain, but she gave all of that up to God, who took it upon Himself and gave her peace and comfort.  We don't have to wait until Heaven to experience the love of Jesus.  God wants us to all be like Mary and abandon ourselves to loving Jesus and sitting at His feet, to give all our worries and grief to Him.  This is my prayer for you, that God would give you a desire to experience His presence even in the midst of this life as a taste of the promises that are yet to come.