MOMENTS OF GRACE: THE ALABASTER JAR

Mark 14:3
She broke the flask and poured it on His head.

“She has done a beautiful thing to me,” said Jesus about the woman with the alabaster jar (Mark 14:6, NIV). Notice the preposition: “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

We’re eager to do things for Jesus, to rush about in ministry—singing in the choir, visiting, caring for others, evangelizing, leading studies, entertaining, going to meetings, and meeting the needs of others—that’s good and pleasing to God.

But one thing is even better—doing something beautiful to Jesus, honoring Him with the alabaster box of praise in response to His grace in our lives.

The phrase “sacrifice of praise” occurs three times in the Bible—twice in Jeremiah (17:26 and 33:11) and once in Hebrews 13:15, which says, “Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

When you praise Him though you don’t feel like it, and when you rejoice in your heart despite the hardships you’re facing—that’s the alabaster box of praise. Every moment is a moment of grace in our lives, and every day is the right time to praise God.

David Jeremiah, Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions (Tyndale, 2014)
Scripture for opening text taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
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