JANUARY 2009 DEVOTIONAL

DO WHAT YOU CAN

MARK 14:3-9

3And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
 4And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
 5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
 6And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
 7For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
 8She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
 9Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Making an eternal difference while here on Earth is very important.  Each one of us can make an eternal difference-just like Mary, the sister of Lazarus.  Only what you do for Christ will last.  How did Mary make a lasting impression?  She didn’t just open the jar, instead she broke it.  She was not planning to just dab Jesus.  She did all she could.  She held nothing back.  (See Matthew 16:25)

A father had twin sons.  One was smart and the other was mentally retarded.  One day, the smart son came in and showed his father his report card.  The father looked at the high marks his son had achieved and said, “Son, I’m so very proud of you.”  At the same time, the other son was at his feet and fumbling with his shoes.  When he looked down, he realized what the boy was doing.  “Daddy look, I’ve learned to tie your shoelaces.  Look at what I can do!”  His father scooped the boy into his arms and smothered him with kisses and said with a big smile, “Daddy loves you so much for tying daddy’s shoes!”

Our Father in Heaven never compares us to His other children, He never compares our achievements.  He looks for faithfulness, not accomplishments.  All that He is interested in is whether we have done what we can.