The Value

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.  “Why this waste?” they asked.  – Matthew 26:8

Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, pours out some very expensive oil upon Jesus.  In His last few weeks, Jesus tried to get the point across that His time was drawing near.  Nobody wanted to believe Him.  Mary believed Him.  Because she believed Him, and loved Him, she didn’t mind giving Him her very expensive oil.

Apparently, this oil was worth about a year’s wages.  In today’s money, even at an approximate $8 minimum wage x 40 hours x 50 weeks is $16,000.  When she poured it all out on Jesus, the disciples became indignant.   Why?  Because that stuff was expensive.

The thing is, they were right about the value of the perfume.  It could have been sold, maybe for $16K and certainly with that much money a lot could have been done for the poor.  However, they missed the value of Jesus.

You see . . . He is worth infinitely more than $16,000.

I remember when I first began to tithe.  I had been a Christian for probably 8 years.  Up until then, I was a “tipper” of God.  I’d give Him a $5 or a $10, and then on occasion give Him a $20 and think He was talking it up in Heaven about His super-servant, Adam Hopkins.  When confronted pretty hard about this, I decided to tithe.  I decided to tithe on my net earnings, not my gross.  It came to around $200 a month.  I tithed 10 out of the 12 months.  I was so proud of myself.

Then, out of the blue, the weirdest circumstances landed a check in the amount of $2,000 into my hands.  At first, I thought tithing was the greatest thing in the world because God finds a way to give it all back to you anyway.  However, the more I thought about it, I began to think it might have been God throwing it back at me and saying, “Adam, check your heart!”

I had the same problem as the disciples.  I didn’t see the value of Jesus.  He’s worth more than all that I have.  I’d now rather have Him than have millions of dollars, but it took a lot of years to get to the point where I could honestly say that.  When we can’t make time to worship Him and learn about Him because we need to sleep, rest, work, play golf, or go to the lake, we are telling Him He isn’t worth our time.  When we can’t give an offering to Him because we have bills to pay and stuff to buy, we are telling Him He isn’t worth the investment.  What does that say about our priorities?

It says that Jesus isn’t valuable.

He is.

Later

Adam