In 2022, one of my beloved family members passed away. It has been incredibly difficult to be without him—and yet, in the years since, I’ve also seen something special happen.
Family members, friends and others who knew him have intentionally done kind deeds in honor and memory of this loved one.
- They’ve given generous gifts,
- They’ve kept traditions alive,
- They’ve followed through on the promises they made to him…and the list goes on.
Because of people’s love for this man, they wanted to honor him in tangible, sacrificial ways.
It reminds me of what so many of us, as Christians, long to do for Jesus. We want to live our lives in ways that bring Him the honor and glory He so richly deserves. And yet, sometimes, if we’re honest, we wonder how we can “do Jesus justice.” How we can rightly honor Him when He is so great and we are so small?
Mark 14:3-9 shows us how.
While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar and poured it over his head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” So, they grumbled against her.
But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
This woman honored Jesus in a tangible, sacrificial way. And from Jesus’ words about her, in verses 6-8, we find three ways that we can honor Him, similarly, today:
Way #1: Do what you can.
In verses 7-8, Jesus said, “…you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could…”
I love that last phrase, “she has done what she could,” because, as mentioned earlier, honoring Jesus in a way that does Him justice can feel unattainable. But this woman honored Jesus by simply making the most of what she had and by taking advantage of her current season.
- She made the most of what she had by taking her perfume and pouring it out for Jesus. This was sacrificial and personal. As a woman, that costly perfume was likely her financial security. Yet, she didn’t merely pour out a little for Jesus and then cork up the rest. She broke the jar open—holding nothing back in her desire to honor the Lord. Some people saw it as “waste,” but it wasn’t…because Jesus was (and is) worthy.
It makes me wonder: What gifts and blessings do you and I have, today? And how could we use them to show our love for Jesus? Using up our time, energy, money and gifts this way, may feel sacrificial. But it is actually the way we can make the most of the good things God has given us. Honoring Jesus is never a waste.
- She also honored Jesus by taking advantage of her current season. Jesus said, “you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me.”
As the crucifixion was approaching, there was only a short window of time where the incarnate Jesus could be honored in such a tangible way as this. It was a unique season with unique opportunities—and this woman took advantage of them. The truth is, we are all living in unique seasons, as well. And our current seasons offer us unique opportunities for honoring the Lord.
Perhaps singleness has given you the gift of a little extra time or your current job has connected you with co-workers who express curiosity about faith. Maybe an extended illness has slowed you down and given you space to think or the demands of parenthood have invited you to depend on God more fully. These are all opportunities to honor Jesus! Oh, how we need to understand this.
Every season brings with it unique opportunities to honor our Lord—and like Mary, we don’t want to miss them. So what season are you in? And what unique opportunities do you have to honor Jesus there?
Whatever we have and wherever we are, let’s “do what we can” to express our love for the Lord.
Way #2: Do it for His eyes only.
In verse 6, Jesus defended this woman from critical voices by saying, “Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me.”
“For Me”—those last two words make Jesus’ point. This woman didn’t break open her jar of perfume so that other people would see. She did it for Jesus’ eyes only.
This should challenge us. The only audience that matters—the only One we should be living for—is the Lord. We know this—and yet motivations can be sneaky things, can’t they? I’ve had moments where I thought I was doing things for the right reason—only to get a little distance and spot motives I didn’t know I had. But God is so gracious with us. He never condemns. He only convicts to draw us back to where we belong, which is at His feet in worship.
So, if you or I find that we’re focused a little too much on what other people think, we only need to fix our eyes back on the Lord. Looking at Him, we will quickly realize that the other voices in the room don’t matter that much. And there’s freedom in that.
The truth is, when we seek to live in a way that honors Jesus—with our time, words, choices, etc.—some people will not get it. The world may tell us it’s weird or a “waste.” But Jesus stands in between us and those critical voices—and He tells us what we’re doing is good and beautiful. He defends and honors those who live for His eyes only.
So, whose opinion is keeping you from living fully for the Lord? And how might fixing your eyes on Jesus and listening to His opinion of your life free you from that?
Way #3: Do it because of His sacrifice.
In verse 8, Jesus said, “She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying.” While we can’t say for sure how much this woman understood about what was getting ready to happen, Jesus makes it clear: her sacrifice was connected to His sacrifice. And the same should be true for us.
When we remember the sacrificial generosity of the cross, it should make us to want to live in a way that honors Him—not out of duty, but out of love and gratitude!
You know, the reason that people honored the memory of my family member with generous gifts and kind deeds is because those were the kind of things he did for them. They were merely responding to his kindness with kindness of their own.
So, if we don’t feel particularly inspired to honor Jesus in our choices one day—or if we find ourselves just going through the motions, we must take time to remember the cross. Our sacrifice is to be connected to His. We live for Him because He died for us.
So, may Christ’s love for us inspire fresh love for Him. And may we, like the woman in this passage, take every opportunity to honor and pour our love out on the One who loved us first.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my 2025 reading plan: “A Year in the Gospels” To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along! You can also learn more about my Scripture over Screentime experiment here.
Written by Paige K. Burhans
©2025 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
