Monday, March 29, 2010

Read Mark 14:1 – 32

In the passage we just read, Mary has chosen to anoint Jesus with her most precious oil; in contrast Judas has chosen to sell out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. We read further about how Jesus at the last supper predicts that Judas would betray him and later at the Mt of Olives Jesus predicts that the disciples would desert him and finally Jesus predicts that even his most dedicated disciple Peter would deny him three times.
Jesus applauded Mary’s act of generosity for she had prepared his body for the coming events. In contrast Jesus condemned Judas and said it would have been better if he had never been born. Most of us would like to have the generous spirit that Mary as we reject the greedy spirit that Judas has. As humans however we should note that we are really a lot more like Judas if given the opportunity most of us will not give away a year’s salary in an instant as Mary did. Looking again at Judas betrayal of Jesus Christ we may feel shocked and enraged, however before passing complete judgment we may need to take a second look at ourselves.
Today we too come to church and take communion on Sunday sharing a meal with our Lord, and then we leave the building and go into the world and immediately start denying Him through our actions. We disobey Him countless times. We say we trust God but our words and actions show otherwise. Professing commitment to Christ but living a life that is contrary to Him is also betraying him.
As human beings we are full of flaws [a polite way of saying sin] in spite of this we should know that we are really blessed because we serve an awesome God whose matchless grace covers all our sins by offering his only son as the sacrifice that would forgive our sins once and for all. Now we can come in full confidence to our Father who hears and forgives our sins. In faith we can turn to God every moment and let him control the life that He has purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ his only son.

Prayer:
Dear Father give us courage to give in every way that would be pleasing to you and the courage to flee from all types of greed and any appearance of greed, Take control of our lives so that we can live the abundant life you want us to have in total service to you, We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Amen
Imo Degbo