Think Big!

Romans 8:28. What a verse. Do you realize what this verse means?! This is, in my opinion, God's greatest promise for His children hands down. The sad thing is that most believers don't take advantage of this promise! We leave weakly and cautiously, fearful that we will inflict more pain on ourselves and more shame on God's glory than we can stomach. We live weak, sheltered, protected, cautious, small lives. Romans 8:28 is an a-bomb that should blow all that right out of the water! It's kind of like God is saying "STOP BEING CAREFUL! Think big!" Romans 8:28 frees us to make monumental errors in our pursuit of bringing God greater glory. Maybe you blow literally everything you have on God. Imagine emptying your bank account, mortgaging your house, selling all your assets, and moving back in with your parents and then giving the money to a missions organization. What if your parents won't take you in? What if this rash decision leaves you homeless? What if you can't afford 3 meals a day anymore and you find yourself taking up residence in a homeless shelter? No doubt, this would be counted as a pretty big mistake. God wants you to have the food you need to do His will. He wants you to have a roof over your head to protect you from the elements. Your His child and maybe you've just thrown away what He intended as your provision. BUT don't forget Romans 8:28. Is God up there scratching His head thinking, "What is WRONG with that guy?!"? No! No doubt, He is rejoicing! "Yes! He gets the gospel! He understands how much worship I deserve!"

Look at the story of Jesus at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' house. Mary takes this pound of VERY expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus feet and wipes them with her hair. Now when it says "very costly perfume" don't make the mistake of thinking this was like "Eternity for Women" by Calvin Klein (running at $40/ bottle at Amazon) or "Ralph Lauren Blue for Women" (running at about $50/ bottle at Amazon). Judas says it could have been sold for 300 denarii. Now how much was a denarius? Well a denarius was about a days' wages. How much money do you make in a day? In my current job I make about $60 every day. You can do the math. Now maybe you make a bit more than I do or a bit less. But if I were to work 300 days, the amount I earn would be about $18,000. It's more than likely that this was Mary and Martha's savings. One day they wouldn't be able to work anymore. They would need something to live on. And here Mary is pouring everything they've got on Jesus feet. She's doing this because, in her mind, Jesus is worth more than the perfume.

How does Jesus respond to this kind of love? Does He scratch His head and say "Mary. Mary, Mary, Mary. I gave you that to take care of yourself after you can't work anymore. That was really stupid. Why would you do that? There's other ways you can show me your love. You didn't have to go and do that and cripple yourself financially for the future. I thought you were smarter than that."? No! He is happy! He honors her! I think God was thrilled in that moment. "YES! She trusts Me to provide for her! She gets how valuable My Son is! She knows that I'm not going to leave her high and dry for pouring out her life savings!" God is honored. Jesus is thrilled. Mary is trusting. What a beautiful picture. Romans 8:28 wasn't written yet but Mary's heart knew the reality of God's kindness and compassion.

I think one lesson we can learn from this story is that we need to be less concerned with what will happen as a result of our sacrifices and more concerned with showing love for and captivation with Jesus Christ. When you get the gospel, you stop being afraid of making gigantic mistakes and you start seeing the glory of God as more important than your personal enjoyment and comfort in life. So sometimes I think it's good to just throw caution to the wind and think "What is the hugest way that I can show my love for God today?" and then do it.