How Worship Births The Unimagineable

It is amazing how we find ourselves in situations with GOD that surpass our understanding.  If you may recall, the Bible shares with us that the highly fragrant perfume in Mary Magdalene's alabaster box was valued at "three hundred denarii" (John 12:5), which is approximately a year's wages for a common worker.  When Mary took it upon herself to throw custom out of the window and break open this box, it was ironically the disciples of Jesus who criticized her--particularly Judas.  They were appalled that she would pour this costly perfume on Him because--TO THEM--its value was "ONLY" a year's wages and what good THEY felt could be accomplished had it been sold.

Now according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for U.S. workers in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $849 per week or $44,148 per year.  So you're probably wondering, "What DOES he mean by 'ONLY' a year's wages?"  After all, most of us have probably NEVER given a single monetary offering of this magnitude to anyone, let alone our Redeemer.  So seen from THIS context, the disciples' reaction to Mary Magdalene's actions doesn't seem so far-fetched.  However, her act of love and appreciation for Messiah signified so much more.  It was an act of worship...  But not just ANY act of worship.

The worship Mary Magdalene offered carried a value that far surpassed the fair market value of the pound of spikenard oil in that alabaster box.  One might even imagine that--in her mind--the oil's value paled in comparison to that of Him who had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  Widely noted as Messiah's greatest miracle, the coming forth of Lazarus in his grave clothes was nothing less than astonishing because he had been dead for four days.  And with saying all that, EVEN SHE--in her expression of immense gratitude--had no idea that she was anointing Messiah's body for HIS ultimate act of worship: Calvary.

Regardless of how much money the selling of that oil could have benefited the poor (as noted by the disciples in Mark 14:5), the impact of three hundred denarii on the lives of the poor would in no way surpass the ETERNAL ramifications of what would happen on that hill...  Messiah knew this and defended her act of worship as the anointing of His body for burial.  In fact, he further validated her choice to so extravagantly worship Him by stating (in Mark 14:9) that what she had done would be spoken of everywhere the gospel is preached throughout the world.

Understand that there may come times in your own life when you unknowingly capitalize on moments set before you by releasing to GOD that which is personally of great value to you.  When your gratitude to Almighty GOD overshadows the perceived value of worldly things, then that is when you begin to experience worship that advances eternal agendas.  The costly worship you release prepares the way for your King to fulfill promises which you knew nothing of because they were made before the foundations of the world.  Worship of this magnitude becomes a tool in the hand of the Creator to masterfully accomplish in the earth that which is beyond our imagination.

As you posture yourself to worship, don't allow yourself to be consumed with how valuable that which you are releasing may be.  Instead focus your attention on expressing your appreciation for His presence and how His miraculous works have impacted your life.  What you will find is that you're being set up to birth the unimaginable through your worship.