“‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”‘ Mark 14:6-8.

I was cleaning out some old boxes in the basement recently. I have a box of dishes that belonged to my grandparents. They have been in the box for years. I have moved them to five different house since I acquired them when my grandmother died.

I never open the box, never look at them, never use them. They really don’t have a purpose while they remain in the box.  Although the dishes are of no real monetary value, they represent so much more. There are things that belong to us that are precious and valuable—but are we using them, or do they remain hidden in a box somewhere?

In our scripture today, dear mamas, we see that Mary has brought her most valuable possession, an alabaster box filled with expensive perfume. She has come to Jesus to pour her love out on him.

In biblical times, this type of perfume would be a very rare and very expensive possession. She could have kept it hidden somewhere for safe-keeping, or protected it, but she didn’t. She broke it and let the oil run freely as it anointed the feet and head of Jesus.

We don’t know the cost of the oil in her alabaster box. The pain, the hurt, and the shame that she probably suffered to pay for that oil. Precious things have a cost. She could have just opened that box, but she chose to make the hard sacrifice and break it over Jesus’s body; bathing him in the sweetest aroma; worshipping him with tears of love and repentance.

When Moses mote the rock, the rock broke and life-sustaining water flowed out. When Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, he first broke the bread.  If the soil isn’t broken it cannot produce crops. If the clouds aren’t broken, they can’t produce rain.

It took the broken body of Jesus on the cross to set us free from death, hell, and the grave. Are we willing to be broken for him, my sweet sisters? Only Jesus knows the price of your oil. What is inside of you that has been kept in its box and it needs to be shattered so that you can be made whole again?

What is beautiful and useful cannot remain hidden in the box. Pour out your love for the master with your box of alabaster.

Blessings in the breaking,

Susie and the Help Club for Moms Team

For more information about Susie’s ministry, Between the Gardens, visit her website at susieoneal.org.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Follow me

Susie O'Neal

Hello! My name is Susie. I have been married to my best friend, Andy, for twenty-five years, and we have two beautiful daughters who are twenty-four and twenty-one. I live in Cleveland, Ohio, where I work full-time as a writer and proofreader at a textbook company. I am the creator and writer of Between the Gardens Ministries, LLC., where I am passionate about teaching and encouraging believers through the truth of God's Word through online evangelism. I am blessed to be a part of this wonderful community, and I pray I can help mentor and inspire mothers of all ages and stages.

Follow me

Latest posts by Susie O'Neal (see all)

• Let the Light of Jesus Shine in Your Darkness - April 21, 2024
• Trust the Author - April 14, 2024
• Give What You Have and the Lord Will Bless You - April 6, 2024