Prayer

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. - John 12:3 NIV

What Mary did was premeditated. She carefully considered what she could give to show Jesus how she felt about Him. Love will make you do "crazy things" but for Mary the gift was not crazy. It was precious and personal to her; it was proportional to what she had to give. It was her sacrifice to demonstrate her love for Jesus. Understand, it is not the size or the financial value that determines the true worth of a gift, but it is the heart of the giver.

She was also predictive in her gift. It was predictive of what was going to happen and she made a commitment up front. She anointed Jesus before He dies.

Sometimes you have to make a commitment before you know what the end is going to be. While you are yet going through, you have to declare the victory up front. You don't have to wait until the battle is over but you can shout now, "Victory is mine!"

The gift may have been upfront of the next move of God but it is also on the back end of the last move of God. Mary gave such an awesome gift and loved Jesus all the more because her brother Lazarus was the table. Lazarus, who was dead and rose again, was among those sitting at the table with Jesus. Mary was premeditated in her gift not just because of the predicted promise of the resurrected Christ in the future but because of the past miracles that Jesus performed in her life and those that she loved.

If you think about what the Lord has done, is doing, and is going to do, you cannot help but say to (and show) the Lord, "That's the way I feel about You!"

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