Mark 14:3-9
It might have been the most awkward dinner of all time. Jesus was sitting at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a man once ostracized, now hosting a meal for Jesus the Christ. Around Him were His closest followers. I imagine that they were trying to make sense of everything He’d been saying about suffering and dying, and also trying to figure out what to do about the people who wanted to arrest him (Mk 14:1-2). Conversation buzzed, food was passed, and then suddenly, the door opened. A woman stepped in who wasn’t invited. She didn’t greet anyone, didn’t ask permission, she simply walked straight to Jesus, broke open a flask of perfume worth a year’s wages, and poured it over His head.
The room fell silent. The sweet smell of nard filled the air. Every eye turned toward her. You could feel the tension thicken, and the hum in the room was filled with whispers, judgment, and shock.
What would make someone give like that? She wasn’t pressured, guilted, or manipulated. There wasn’t a campaign, a pledge card, or a ten-step stewardship plan. This woman gave because her heart was captured. She had experienced the grace and goodness of Jesus, and once she did, her only natural response was to give Him her best. We don’t become generous people by becoming wealthy. We become generous people when Jesus captures our hearts.
Jesus once said, “A good person brings good things out of the good stored up in their heart” (Luke 6:45). In other words, whatever fills your heart eventually flows out into your life. The woman who poured perfume on Jesus didn’t give because someone told her to, she gave because love was overflowing inside her. Generosity wasn’t something she decided to do; it was something she couldn’t hold back. That’s how it works with us, too. When grace fills the heart, generosity flows from our lives. What’s stored up inside us, gratitude, love, awe, spills over in how we live, speak, and give. The heart is the spring; our hands simply carry what’s already been poured in.
When you love Jesus,
Giving becomes a joy.
Serving becomes an honor.
Sharing your faith becomes natural.
Generosity isn’t isn’t driven by guilt, it’s love in motion. It begins with a gaze… seeing Jesus, and then responding to Him.
Maybe today, ask yourself the question: has my devotion to Jesus translated into generosity to others? If not, ask Jesus to open your heart and eyes to ways to be generous today.
Pastor Ryan Paulson