"God is First"
Nellie Thurman
Monday, March 15, 2010
John 12:1-8
John 12:1-8 12Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ “You always have the poor with you but, but you do not always have me.” God is First I believe that in my life that God is first, family is second and business or work is third. Jesus tells Judas Iscariot to leave Mary alone and let her do what she is doing which is to honor Jesus and that there will always be the poor to take care of. Mary is serving Jesus as first in her life and I believe that Jesus is saying he is to be first in our lives also. Family is our primary every day work that God has given to us to take care. Working in a business is the means of taking care of all those who are depending on us. Martha was busy serving dinner to Jesus and Lazarus and those who were with them. I don’t feel that Jesus wanted us to forget the poor but just not put them first in our lives. Since the poor are always with us I believe Jesus wants us to help them on a regular basis so they can help themselves. We have adopted a child through Children’s International who is from the Dominican Republic. Her picture drew me to her with hands on her hips and her eyes looking towards me with a very intense and determination about her and saying, “Don’t you dare not adopt me.” So we did adopt her. I feel the same way about people who serve us and get paid very poorly. They work hard and are in need of our gratuity to survive in this world. Judas wanted the money because he kept the purse and was stealing from it. Are we stealing from God when we do not give our tithes and offerings to him? If we help others when they are in need, it is always very surprising to find that we are very Blessed at times when we ourselves need help. We are Blessed to be A Blessing.