She Did A Beautiful Thing

Sunday Rewind is a 5-day Devotional based on the weekly sermon at Resonate Community Church

October 11th Sermon, Day 3

Imagine the scene. A woman walks into a room, breaks open a jar of perfume worth nearly a year's wages, and pours every drop of it over Jesus. No hesitation. No calculation. Just love, poured out completely. The people around her were outraged. They called it wasteful. But Jesus stopped them and said something remarkable: "She has done a beautiful thing to me."

Jesus was not impressed by the most strategic gift in the room. He was moved by a heart so full of love that it gave without holding back. He was not looking for fine wisdom or balanced judgment. He was looking for uncalculating devotion. That challenges us, does it not? Most of us are wired to be practical. We weigh the pros and cons. We ask if it makes sense. And while wisdom has its place, there are moments when God is not asking us to calculate. He is asking us to respond. Generosity rooted in love looks different from generosity rooted in obligation. One feels like a burden. The other feels like freedom. The woman with the alabaster jar was not giving out of duty. She was giving because she loved Jesus deeply, and that love overflowed. What might it look like for your generosity to look less like a transaction and more like an act of love?

Bible Verse

"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.'" - Mark 14:3-6

Reflection Question

When you give, whether your time, money, or energy, does it feel more like an obligation to fulfill or an overflow of love? What might need to change for it to feel more like the latter?

Quote

"Jesus isn't looking for us to make the most reasonable, calculated or practical choice every time. He's looking for hearts so moved by love that we're willing to give extravagantly, even when it doesn't make sense to the world or it even doesn't make sense to ourselves."

Prayer

Jesus, I want my generosity to come from a heart that loves You deeply, not from a sense of duty or guilt. Teach me what it means to give beautifully, the way she did. Amen.