Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. — John 12:3
There are a lot of things that I have wanted to do in my life. Many of those things I have completed and there are many other things I would love to do. But there are some things that many other people do that I would never do.
For example, I have no interest in skydiving. That is not to say anything is wrong with that if you enjoy it, but it’s not for me. Call it fear, or respect, but either way, I am not interested in skydiving. There are things that stand in my way of doing it.
In our focus verse today, Mary had two things that could have stood in the way of her worship of Jesus. The first is often looked at with the pound of ointment. Many look at the expense of that ointment and talk about the financial sacrifice she made. But there is another that is often overlooked.
The verse says she anointed the feet of Jesus and “wiped his feet with her hair.” In those days, the hair of a woman was her pride. It was something that they took care of and respected. They certainly wouldn’t put it on the feet of just anyone. She was not only willing to give up the financial but also of her person.
So many times in life we let things stand in our way of true worship of God. Sometimes it’s pride, sometimes it’s money, and sometimes it can be hundreds of other things. We can learn from the example of Mary that no matter what it may be, nothing should stand in the way of our relationship with God.