Today's Devotional

May 6, 2005

Subject:  Alabaster Box III - The Pride Part

Matthew 26:6 - 10 "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.  But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?  For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.  When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me."

I had a friend who used to make fun of the fact that I liked eating at cafeterias.  In Texas they have a cafeteria named Luby's and there are other places like that where "normal" people go to order a sit down meal and it's popular because of the cost of the food compared to specialty restaurants.  I remember my friend saying to me with a voice that sounded like she was looking straight down her nose, "you eat at those types of places?"  Once when she went to one of these cafeterias just for my sake, she also acted that way.  It appeared as though she was thinking to herself, "what am I doing here with these people?" 

Sometimes we're like that in the church too.  Some people act like the pastor and even God should be pleased that they have us in their congregation.  That's often why church fights happen and people become indignant with each other and with the leadership of the church and perhaps that was part of the disciples problems in the alabaster box story.  

The disciples aren't really comprehending the message that Jesus is trying to send them and in this case, he's in the house of Simon the leper.  "Smart people" did not hang out with lepers in those days.  Those people were despised and often shuttled off to entire colonies were they lived amongst their own kind so as not to infect others with their disease.  So you can imagine the disciples attitude at being at the home of one of these people.  They probably had the same question as my friend, "what am I doing here with these people?"

See it's our pride and arrogance that places us above while others are beneath.  It's our pride and arrogance that says, "I'm okay but you're not okay" and it's our pride and arrogance that makes us indignant and intolerable of others and how they worship God or sacrifice to Him.

Today we need to understand that the church (the people of God) is no place for pride, arrogance and indignation with our fellow brothers and sisters.  Don't get mad with others just because their sacrifice is different than yours.  If you wanted to, you could've given up your alabaster box too. 

Carlen