Doing a "Beautiful thing" for love

Did you ever really want to do something for love, but you held back?  Maybe reluctant to embarrass yourself? (That's my personal favorite.) Insecure? Worried you'll be ridiculed? Afraid to waste something? Or just unable to make a decision and commit to action?

Sometimes I wonder how much more of an impact my life would have, if I let love drive me. 

Remember Mary who sat at Jesus' feet when He came to her house? He visited her family in Bethany, near Jerusalem, more than once. Mary is remembered as a woman who did a "beautiful thing" for love.

Mark. 14:3-9
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

She couldn't have known, but she her act of worship foreshadowed Jesus' death and burial. Though she was treated with disdain and accused of waste by those who should've known better, I'm sure she was glad she poured out the precious perfume on the feet of her Lord. Jesus accepted her gift of love.

Maybe before knelt at His feet and filled the room with the sweet fragrance she was reluctant ... did she stand at the pharisee's doorway, try to get up her nerve, weigh the cost of criticism, examine her logic, or take a deep breath? Maybe, but ultimately, she let love drive her, and she did a beautiful thing we'll never forget. 


This weekend let's go out of our way to find Jesus, get up close to Him, and pour out what's precious to Him. Let's make one of "The Things We Do for Love" a beautiful thing,