Broken

I read this last night......

"While he was in Bethany...... a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume, or pure Nard, very costly and precious; and she broke the jar and poured the perfume over his head....." Mark 14:3

It's a passage that is quite familiar - so familiar in fact that there is a danger that we just pass it by and move on - a woman comes up and pours perfume (Nard - whatever that is - but I'm guessing it must have smelled ok!), over Jesus in an act of thanks and worship that gets the disciples' treasurer all hot and bothered over the 'waste'.

One thing that has never struck me before is that she broke open the jar of perfume & poured it on him - not a quick spray, or a light dusting..... The woman was fully committed to the act of thanks and worship she had started - no going back on the pouring front - once she had broken open the seal on the jar, she was all in.....

Broken things are usually thrown away - and broken people seen as weak and out of control. How people shy away from brokenness, seeing it as something to be avoided at all costs. How much money do people spend on self-help books every year that promise to make us whole and 'unbroken'?

If the seal on the jar hadn't been broken, the essence of the perfume would never have made it out - it would have remained just a nice smell in a jar.

We all carry beauty inside - our relationship with God inside - the presence of the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and yet we still struggle to remain unbroken.

Like the symbolic pouring of her most treasured thing - we need to be broken to God to let the powerful things inside us pour out. Being broken to God isn't weak, feeble or something to be ashamed of - quite the opposite........

Being broken to God, is the beginning of courage, strength and a truly different way of living...........


1 comment:

  1. wow Liz ... simple yet profound from that passage
    you've really challenged me

    ReplyDelete