Financial planning is all the rage. Invest in the market, buy into gold, and make sure our retirement funds are secure beyond all question.
Money is essential to surviving in our modern world. Without it, we cannot live in the present or retire in the future. Without cash or its equivalent, we are stranded outside the stream of life, and the world will pass us by.
If we’ve got it, why would we ever freely give it away?
Yet, in Luke 7:36-50 we read of the Pharisee who invited Jesus into his house for a meal. A woman of the city, one of dubious reputation, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and she poured it on his feet. Usually we stop there, because we picture the sacrifice and how much it meant for the woman to give up something so valuable. Her love for the master must have meant everything to her.
What happened next is equally important. The Pharisee thought, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of woman this is.”
Oh, but Jesus did know. At that point, he told the story of the moneylender and the two debtors. The one who was forgiven the most loved the most.
The Pharisee offered Jesus a meal. The woman offered him all her retirement accounts. Who was more thankful for the presence of Jesus?
John 16:13-15 tells us the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth.
Luke 7:27 says God will send his messengers to prepare the way before us.
Malachi 3:1 declares, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”
Now we must ask ourselves the question: Who saw the real Jesus? The Pharisee, or the woman of dubious reputation?
Ephesians 4:31-32 instructs us to “let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Again, we must ask ourselves the question: Who saw the real Jesus? The man who questioned a sinner’s motivations, or the woman who gave the most important thing she owned?
John 3:17 tells Jesus’ real mission. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
When our heart prompts us to give everything to God, that is a sincere expression of love for the Father. If all we have to give is ourselves, then we have given everything we own.
That’s all Jesus wants from us. It’s why he came down to earth, and it’s the reason he hung on the cross. He did it all for you and me.
Our love for Christ is about giving our hearts to him. Everything else must play second fiddle.
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