I have a friend, we don’t live in the same town any more, but we used to go walking and talking. Some days it was just fluffy everyday talking, but most times we talked about things
like God and writing. She was a little frustrated that some people seem to be able to regularly say things like, Well God said this to me, or God did that
for me. She said the only thing God had clearly said to her was I AM ENOUGH. About a year ago she took a month off from writing and her writing group to seek God’s direction in her life. When she was done I asked her how it had gone. She said the only thing God said again was I AM ENOUGH. She seemed rather frustrated with that. I thought about it for a bit and eventually months later when the topic came up in conversation again I asked her what she had done about that? His gift to her of I AM ENOUGH, was she spending it basically….how was she using it…and was He enough in her life?
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This last week I read through the story in John 12 where Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a pint of nard, a very expensive perfume. The last part of verse 3 caught my attention, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume”.
The house was FILLED with the fragrance of the perfume.
There was not a room or a corner not filled with the scent of the perfume and if the windows were open I’m guessing it wafted out and anyone passing by could smell it also. It was enough perfume to fill the whole place and then some. Mary didn’t just open the bottle and dab a bit onto Jesus feet and rub it in so that only a few people nearby could maybe smell something. She didn’t try to save some for later…and seriously a pint of perfume is a lot. As a side note it cost a whole years wages!
We have been over this story before and I compared the perfume to a truth serum that revealed the truth of what was in the hearts of the people at the party.
This story happened at a dinner party thrown in Jesus honor and His disciples were with him. When Judas inhaled the perfume he did not enjoy it. Judas was the money man in the group of the disciples. Being able to manage money well is a good gift and skill to have. But in this story it says Judas was a thief and often skimmed off the top of the purse. Basically what was meant for the poor, the widows, orphans, the temporarily out of work, he took and spent on himself.
When Judas caught a huge whiff of the perfume, after all he was sitting there at the table with Jesus, Judas must have nearly choked. He knew how expensive that perfume was and he could no doubt imagine all the things on his mental list of things he wanted that couldn’t be bought and it made him angry. But he piously said, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money give to the poor? It was worth a whole years wages”.
Jesus said, “Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”
Judas couldn’t see past the amount of money spent. Jesus on the other hand saw the love it represented, the love He had given to her and now she returned it to Him.
See when Judas caught a whiff of true love he lied. When Jesus inhaled the pure love poured from the heart of Mary, He protected it and He grew it with the words He said.
God is enough.
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God gives us gifts to use, to spend if you will. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, truth, humility, faith. When He gives us these gifts He wants us to spend them as if we are going for broke.
When we arrive at the pearly gates of heaven, God wants us to have spent every last bit of patience He has given us, every last bit of kindness, every last bit of
love. Before we arrive at the pearly gates God wants us to have lived our lives spending His gifts til we think we will go broke and when we arrive to those places where we think we can’t get another drop out of the cup…it runs over. So spend His gifts with the attitude of going broke because it just grows bigger and it never runs out. Gods mercy for us, His love for us never runs dry. It can’t because God is an endless supply of all that we need.
In our relationship with God I like to picture the path of righteousness leading through the heart of God. God really has no other place for us to go except into His heart of love for us. Imagine stepping into the heart of God and looking around. Imagine the piles of diamonds and jewels piled high and its all yours to share. God is our Father, rich in love and mercy, we are His children, rich in love and mercy, and we are to live like it never runs out.
God is enough.
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I looked up how much the average American makes currently per year. There did seem to be varying opinions but I took the first one to pop up. As of June 13, 2023, the average annual pay for an American in the United States is $58,563 a year. That works out to be approximately $28.16 an hour, $1,126/week, or $4,880/month.
So if we make $58,563 in one year we have a finite amount of money to spend. We can spend exactly $58,563, we can spend less and put some in savings, which we are told is a wise thing to do, or we can spend more and go into debt.
Judas chose to go into debt. We can either spend to go broke of God’s love, forgiveness and mercy and God will just keep giving us more or we can go into debt with things like unforgiveness, anger and lies over the very same situations in life. When Judas was brought face to face with a situation that annoyed him he went into debt and lied. He pretended to be someone he wasn’t. He chose to look all clean and shiny on the
outside while remaining all crusty and stinky on the inside. He went into debt rather than spend to go broke on the gifts of God.
But we don’t have to go into debt because we can be God’s overflowing treasure boxes here on earth.
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJ
19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We know that the treasure we store up in heaven is our relationship with God, right? So conversely in a sense we could be considered God’s treasure boxes here on earth. Aren’t we the places He puts His gifts into? And we are to have overflowing treasure boxes, overflowing with forgiveness, and actions of peace, and humility and all the stuff that overflows gets stored up in heaven.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. When we go for broke spending all the love God has given us may the house be filled and not just the tiny little area we are in because we believe the lie that the love of God is too expensive to spend.
God is enough.
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In the gift of Jesus God could not have given more.
In the gift of His life Jesus could not have given more.
Do we look at that and say….
What a waste they could have done better?
Is what God has done for us ENOUGH?
Why do we waste the love of Jesus?
Why do we want to hold onto it for ourselves but not spend it on others?
Is your God enough?
Or do you keep going into debt?
Jesus is our only salvation
Are we wasting that by not spending His salvation for us?
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God is enough.