33 Days until Easter

33 Days until Easter

How extravagant was His gift?  How costly was His sacrifice?  How lavish is my love in return?

When it comes to topics such as accounting and contract law and blah, blah, blah, I’d just about rather chew glass than have to listen to someone talk about one of those subjects.  And I’d most definitely choose to gnaw on shards before having to learn about one of those subjects.  But Josh eats that stuff up.  He loves it and so does Margo.  When she was little, I’d find contracts that she had written up for poor Jude to sign.  They’d be full of conditions and small print and there at the bottom would be a signature line for him to sign his life away.  This morning they (Josh, Margo and Jude-- the cat and I know better) were discussing contract law and Josh was going over the risks of cosigning on a loan.  And the bottom line: by cosigning on a loan, your 100% responsible for covering someone else's debt.  It was that bottom line that made my ears perk up to the conversation.  I’ll be real.  I’d rather not cosign on a loan if I don’t have to.  When I think of those who have cosigned, it’s normally for items such as cars.  Typically, a cosigner would only take on the risk for one person.  They wouldn’t go around offering that to everyone.  And also, the cosigner is just backup, in the event that the other person can’t pay the debt themselves. 

So what kind of story would it be if someone didn’t just cosign, but just completely took on the debt for another?  And not only that, what if it was more than the debt of a car, but the debt of a life sentence?  Not just for one person.  For all.  Every single soul.  And for what cost?  His life.  It’s not a loan.  It’s a gift and it’s a sacrifice.  So to go back to my original question, how extravagant and how costly?  Well, I believe I will never find the words to answer that question.  I actually don’t think those words exist.  So to put it into terms for myself as a way to reflect; there has never been a gift so extravagant.  Ever.  And it is offered to me. 

Now to examine the other question I had for myself: how lavishly do I express my love in return?  That is an answer I can put into words.  I think back to scripture and how grand Lazarus’s sister, Mary, was in expressing her love for Jesus.  She was ever so grateful for what Jesus did by raising Lazarus from the dead.  With everything in her she loved Jesus and believed in Him.  As His life on earth was drawing near to an end, He had dinner with Lazarus’s family.  At dinner that night,  Mary took the most valuable thing she owned and poured it out in an expression of how great her love was for Him.  It was the best she had to give.  It was spikenard, an extremely expensive perfume and there at His feet, she emptied it, anointing Him and wiping His feet with her hair.  She was willing to lay everything she had at the feet of Jesus and she wanted nothing more than to do it in a most extravagant way.  And as for me and my lavish expression of love?  When I sit down and really think about it, I can do so much better.  I have to ask myself, what am I pouring out?  Is it the best I have to give?   If I’m transparent and completely forthcoming,  I’d describe my expression of love for my Savior as reserved rather than extravagant or lavish.  My time, talents, service and money are just parts of my life that could be used as a way of expressing my love, but those aren’t things that I necessarily empty out at His feet. 

Jesus is worthy of my all.  The best I have. 

Dear Lord,  Where I am reserved in my expression of love for You, help me to empty myself.  May my life be poured out in a most lavish way and may the aroma of my love be as beautiful as the ointment that Mary poured out for You.  The heart of my worship, the dedication of my service to others, the use of my time, and the message of my life should all be magnificent declarations of my love.  I pray that every aspect of my life will glorify You, my Heavenly Father.