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Mark 14:1-9:

“Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ²“But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

³While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as 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.

⁴Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages^[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mary broke her alabaster  flask, which released fragrance. In our modern day context, it gives the same implication of a bride who has waited excitedly all her life for the day she walks down the aisle with her father to meet her bridegroom, that one guy of her life who has spent countless hours together with her loving, courting her.  But then the day comes that this man of her dreams is called upon to defend the country in war. She is forlorn and heartbroken, as she has to part ways with him, not knowing whether he will arrive back on a jet plane waving down the steps, or in a coffin.  Her beloved has answered a higher call, a national call. And to do that, she has to be willing to let her lover go.

In the New Testament, only two times does God mention building a memorial for two persons. One is Mary for her act of worship at Jesus’s feet, and the 2^nd is Cornelius in Acts for his faithfulness. Do you want a memorial to be erected in for you in heaven and in the history books to come for your willingness to be broken by God? Are you leaving a fragrance behind when people see you in school, at home, or are you smelly? Do people get excited about wanting to know the Lord more when they hang around you? Do you inspire passion to run after God?

Our lifestyles speak louder than words. People who inspire passion in others to seek after God are people whose lives speak louder than their words!  They have gone places others have only talked about or seen. On the Day of Judgment, God will take into account every idle word that we speak on this earth, and that will determine our reward in heaven.  Therefore, let our words be few, and let our actions speak for us.

Brokenness starts when we surrender our lives down to God; allowing God to break our outer man- mood swings, consciousness of self, insecure. It is very practical, if we would allow God to show areas that need to be surrendered.  When God breaks us, the fragrance comes out!

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