Wasted

On Monday I spoke at high school devotions on the topic of Mary’s act of worship and service toward Jesus when she anointed his hair and feet with perfumed oil. It is my favorite passage in the Bible. After the message, one of the teachers brought me a copy of Watchman Nee’s “The Normal Christian Life.” He had marked out the last chapter for me to read because it went along with what I had spoken about.

Wow. It was awesome. I’ve never read this whole book before, but this chapter was just incredible. It speaks of our opportunity to be like the worship Mary offered to Jesus at the time. Remember, the disciples (led by a negative comment from Judas) even chastised Mary for “wasting” something that could have been sold and used to feed the poor or something else useful. Nee’s point in his book is that we should be willing to waste ourselves for Christ in the same way. We should not see a quiet or even suffering life as a failure, but we should see ourselves being wasted in the eyes of the world.

Gary Thomas, in his book called Sacred Pathways, describes several different spiritual temperaments. One is the contemplative and Mary is a perfect example. He suggests devotional acts of secrecy if you want to feed the contemplative in you. One option is to write a poem or letter for God and then burn it. That way you know it is just for Him and no one else.

I live in the middle of a cornfield and it is tempting to believe that I have been overlooked. I don’t feel overlooked by God but sometimes I think others may be saying about me, “She should really get out into the real world and DO something BIG for God.” And maybe I should. But for right now, I’m happy serving my students, caring for my children, and learning to love Jesus more. I’m O.K. being “wasted” right now. It’s all for Him.