Ever since seeing From Patmos on Sunday, the Lord has been stirring up some serious stuff in my heart. I know I’ve mentioned it a bunch of times on facebook already but seriously, if you haven’t seen it yet check it out (Click to Watch). It will so bless your heart and increase your love for Jesus. It was anointed and awesome when I was watching it but it wasn’t until the next day that I really realized how much it affected my heart. A big part of how it did for me was the way they showed Mary of Bethany’s story.
Mary of Bethany is probably one of my favorite things to talk about. I mean hey, that’s where the name for this blog comes from after all. It’s because of what she represents, what she did for Jesus that stirs my heart to do the same. She gave all for love and wasted all she had at His feet. There was something about seeing those scriptures being portrayed through From Patmos that made it so much more real to me. Seeing real people act it out just made the whole reality tangible. It really happened! It made my devotion to Jesus seem all the more real as well. I just keep thinking about what Mary saw in Jesus. How her heart came alive when He spoke. How when she looked at Him, she saw the most beautiful Man who was about to do the unthinkable for her so she couldn’t help but do the unthinkable for Him. She saw His worth. His value. Her act of extravagant devotion to Him was like a life declaration for her saying, “This Man is worth more than anything and I will freely give Him all I have.”
And then there’s Jesus’ response to her act of devotion.
“Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26:13)
Stop for a second and realize how much of a big deal that is. What a statement of honor to Mary that was from Jesus. I can just sense the seriousness in His voice, the jealousy and passion behind those words. He’s telling his disciples, “I value what she’s done for me so much, that wherever you guys share the gospel and tell My story, her story is going to be shared with it in honor of her.” One day when I was reading this Mary of Bethany account that part of the verses just really struck me. At first I didn’t really get how what she did related to the gospel. So I just asked the Lord why and what He showed me is one of the coolest things ever to me. What I felt like He showed me was that Mary’s story is to be told with the gospel because her act of devotion was a demonstration of what the gospel is. Meaning, Mary was doing for Jesus what Jesus was about to do for her and all of humanity! Mary broke the alabaster flask and poured out perfume on Jesus as an act of love and devotion to Him. Jesus broke His body and poured out His blood as an act of love and devotion to us. That is so amazing to me. That’s the gospel! That Love came and gave His all for us that we might be with Him forever! She tapped into something that the bible says the disciples didn’t even understand. I also felt like the Lord showed me that Mary’s story is to be told because that is what He’s after, that’s what He desires, for that same type of voluntary love to be lavished on Him by all of humanity. He longs for our devotion and for us just to be with Him like Mary was. I feel like this statement from Jesus also just shows how much He honors our love for Him. Even with these other revelations and what not, to Jesus it’s enough for her story to be told just because of His great love for her and the value He has for the devotion human beings bring to Him. There really is no one like our God that has such affection for His people.
Since seeing From Patmos, my heart has been so touched to just give Jesus my all and waste everything upon Him like Mary did. To give Him all my love, all my affections, all my dreams, my plans, just everything. I so long to see others step into this reality of giving Jesus extravagant love and devotion. I just wanna see Jesus receive the glory, honor, and love that He’s worthy of. He is so worthy. He’s worth it. HE is worth it. His Person. We get Him. He’s our inheritance and our portion forever. Give us a greater picture of Your worth Jesus! To see you rightly and respond like Mary.
“I wanna be like Mary, sitting at Your feet, lavishing my love upon You. How I chose that one thing, I give all for love, surrendering everything for You. You are my great reward, You’re who I’m longing for. My beautiful inheritance, Jesus.” – Ashley Prior
