With Extravagance

Remember Mary of Bethany?  You know, the one who always ends up at Jesus’ feet every time she shows up in the Bible.  The one who risked it all just to love Him extravagantly.  She risked her dignity showing up at that men-only banquet in order to spill extravagance all over the feet of her hero and then wipe it up with her hair.  Tens of thousands of dollars worth of extravangance.

Because it was all that she had.  It was everything she had.

I think about that, my favorite-ever story in the Bible, and I wonder . . . what if I loved Jesus like Mary did?

What if I was not just verbally willing, but put-my-money-where-my-mouth-is willing to give Jesus literally every ounce of everything I have?  My dignity.  My comfort.  My time.  My energy.  My motivation.  My sleep.  My budget.  And I’m not just talking sacrifice.  I’m talking what if I loved Him so radically, so intensely extravagantly that I was not just willing, but was excited to give it all?

I think He would like my extravagance.  I think it would smell like million-dollar perfume to Him.  And I think He would be pleased.

Extravagantly pleased.