Mr. Herbert Armstrong used to say that love is outgoing concern and giving toward others. 1 John 4:8 tells us that, "God is love." As God's people, we can rejoice that we have a Heavenly Father and Elder Brother that love us so much and want to give us everything. The Father and Jesus Christ are offering us glory and honor for all eternity as members of the God Family. That is all made possible because of the total giving of God and His Son. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The Father willingly gave His Son that we might be reconciled to Him through that Son. Jesus Christ willingly gave up an immortal life in order to be born a human being and give Himself as the ultimate Passover sacrifice, thus becoming our Savior. He gave Himself totally, not holding back anything. It was a total sacrifice. He poured His life out for us.

Christ set the perfect, righteous example for us to follow. We are to emulate Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:21). Maybe that does not entail physically giving up our life for someone else, but certainly as a living sacrifice. The Apostle Paul tells us, "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1).

The Apostle Paul knew the importance of love all too well. "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." Paul then breaks love down in sub-groups, or traits: "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails" (1 Cor. 13:1-8). In vs.13, Paul lists three important Christian traits, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." It is obvious that God wants us to be full of godly love, just as He is. He expects us to be "givers."

The main object lesson of this article is found in Mark 14:3-9. This was a few days before Passover, when Jesus would be crucified. "And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster box of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the box and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denari and given to the poor.' And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

This ointment, or oil of spikenard, in today's values would be many thousands of dollars. It was roughly worth an average worker's years wages! Spikenard was a very sought after, very expensive and precious perfumed oil that comes from an Indian plant. It was stored in a beautiful alabaster box. Alabaster is a white, translucent mineral that was often carved into boxes or flasks. This woman didn't just sprinkle a few drops of this very expensive oil on Jesus, she broke open the box and poured the whole contents over Jesus Christ. What she did has a lesson for us today. In fact, this story is preserved in three out of four of the Gospel accounts.

Who was this woman? "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. "It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick" (John 11:1-2). So we see the woman who anointed Jesus with costly oil of spikenard and even wiped His feet with her hair, was none other than Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She is the one who cracked open the alabaster box of precious oil and poured it over Jesus Christ, anointing Him for burial.

This attitude of Mary's is one we have to understand. This is an example for us in our lives. Mary loved Jesus and listened intently whenever He taught. How do we look at Jesus Christ and the calling we have from God the Father? Do we listen intently to what Christ is telling us? By calling ourselves "Christians," we acknowledge that we are a follower of Jesus Christ. Are we? Mary had the attitude of total giving. She held nothing back and I'm not talking about money. The oil symbolized her total love and devotion to Jesus Christ. She totally gave of herself, holding nothing back.

We too have alabaster boxes. We could call it our "heart," or "inner man." Jesus Christ wants us to be a total offering. He wants to see us do what He did and pour ourselves out in love, in giving, openness, in serving and being a living sacrifice. This is the lesson we must glean from Mary and her alabaster box. Mary valued Jesus Christ. She sat at His feet and listened to the words of life that came from Him. We have those same words of life preserved for us in the pages of our Bible. Do we drink them in and apply them in our life? Do we hear Jesus Christ - listen to what He has for us?

In Luke's gospel account, Mary is again the object of Christ's lesson. "Now it happened as they went that Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.' And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

Martha had a different attitude than Mary. Although she was Mary's sister, she tended to go overboard with food and preparation - being overly concerned with the physical, material world around her. Sometimes we can do that as well. We can be too overly concerned with physical things. That doesn't just mean Church service projects. It can apply to our mate, our job, hobbies, or anything else that has a tendency to become an idol - something we put before God. Mary understood that and Jesus Christ praised her for it. She knew who Jesus was and what He was doing. She preferred to sit at His feet and listen to Him. She wanted to totally conform to what He was teaching.

Because of that attitude, Mary was used to anoint Jesus for burial. She gave everything she had, even wiping His feet with her hair. The alabaster box was broken and totally poured out for the benefit of the gospel, to show where Mary's heart was. This is what God wants to see. Where is our heart? It's not a question of money, but a question of where our heart is. Is our attitude one of total giving, a total sacrifice for this calling? Is our calling a "pearl of great price" for us, in other words, priceless? Do we really believe it as Mary did?

There is another example preserved in the pages of the Bible for us as well. That example is in the book of Acts. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet" (Acts 5:1-2). Here were two individuals, a couple - a man and wife in God's Church, in New Testament times. Ananias kept back part of the sale price of some property and his wife, also being privy to it, schemed up a plan with him in private, to show to the Church how much they loved the Church and how generous they were. They were going to give an impression that they were giving everything - selling all they had and giving it to the Church. There is certainly nothing wrong with selling something and dedicating it to the Church. It was their money to keep, or do with as they pleased. It was their dishonest, deceitful attitude that got them in trouble.

When they came before the Church giving the impression that they had given totally, Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:3-4). We need to be honest and set a truthful example in our lives in what we do and what we say. We should be genuine and honest, not full of hypocrisy and double minded. These two people had some deep character flaws. They had something very wrong in their alabaster box that they knew about, yet they gave the impression that they were giving everything. They didn't give everything. They held back and were dishonest.

When people leave "the Church," or the fellowship of what ever group we meet with, we wonder why they left. After all, they were part of our Church "family." What did they keep in their alabaster box? What was hidden in their heart? What did they allow to come between them and their God? Was it the ways of the world, or maybe their own ideas that they treasured? Perhaps they were following a man, as so many do. Men fail. They let us down. As a result, these people became disillusioned and gave up on God. Their foundation was built on sand, or the "commandments of men" that so many place their trust in and not the truth of the scriptures. They failed to place their belief and faith in God in all they were doing. In short, they were not being honest with themselves, not keeping the Commandments and living the "Way" described in the Bible. Hopefully, we see the lesson there for us: God wants us to be genuine, of a pure heart like Christ - a total offering. People hide things in the alabaster box of their mind and heart. They hold on to these things and when they do that, they don't give a total offering of themselves. We should be a total offering to Christ, because He has been totally offered to us. We must be giving, caring, with nothing held back, just as Mary of Bethany. And again, I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about an attitude, about truth and genuine love and an outgoing concern and a display of the love of God in an individual.

The Apostle Paul admonished the Christian brethren at Philippi, " And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God"(Philip. 1:9-11). In other words, those fruits of the Holy Spirit we can read about in Galatians 5:22.

Mary showed that. She broke open her box and poured it all out. She believed in Christ - trusted in Him. That is what it all boils down to. We don't really trust God at times. We don't believe that He is loyal and faithful. We may say that we do, but our actions show we don't. It's not what we say, it's what we are, what we do that carries the weight with God.

gave God an offering just to get by – probably because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to. Abel gave of his best. Abel demonstrated he believed in God. He wanted to serve God with his best. The fact that Cain was not righteous is well brought out – he murdered his brother. But even before that, he wasn't giving his best to God. In his own mind he had an impression of God and he gave to God what he thought of Him – a second rated sacrifice. But Abel gave to God a first rate sacrifice, a sacrifice of his best. When Mary broke open her alabaster box and poured it's precious contents on Jesus, anointing Him for His burial, she gave of the best she had. That's what god wants to

The Father says the kingdom is ours. We are the ones who are going to receive all He has to give. "That you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God ...giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (Col. 1:10,12-15) Christ is the direct reflection of His Father. He wants us to reflect that same righteous character and attitude of "give." God is not asking anything of us that He was not willing to do Himself. Remember, the Father gave His only begotten Son to be horribly tortured and killed, so our sins might be forgiven.

Paul tells the Corinthians, "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you"(1 Cor. 1:4-6). We don't lack in anything, that is, we don't fall short in any gift. God has promised us everything through Jesus Christ, but payday hasn't fully come. We know God is faithful, His words are true and we need to believe Him. Paul continues that thought in verses 7-9, "So that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Paul emphasizes, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." It is a reasonable request that God is making of us that we present ourselves as a living sacrifice and we should be happy to do it - just like Mary was. She did what she could at that time, just before Jesus was betrayed and crucified. She did her part in God's work. Paul continues, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2). If we do this, we are going to be proving and knowing what the will of God is and abiding in the truth. God is going to be with us, living in us by His Spirit and as a result, we are going to be transformed!

We must have the same commitment as Christ and Mary did. We have a high calling. We do what we can with what we have, or as Paul says, we present our bodies as a living sacrifice in Christ's service. How do we accomplish that? We serve, we carry someone, give to someone, walk with someone, smile at someone, talk to and encourage someone. We use our bodies to edify, to build, to give and to follow the example of the love of Jesus Christ.

You parents want your children to love you. God is no different. God wants us to love Him. He is our Father. Matthew records a Jewish lawyer asking Jesus, "Teacher, which is the great [or foremost] commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matt. 22:36-38). Loving God with all of our being is the first, the foremost, the great commandment. Jesus Christ personified and magnified that. Giving "agape" love is a tangible benefit. Someone can make use of it. God wants us to be like Him. We are called to be His children and He want us to love Him. We demonstrate that by being like Mary - totally giving in mind and attitude without having our own ways, our own thoughts and ideas that tend to fill up our alabaster box, instead of God's ways. We cannot be partial and double minded. God wants us to be pure, as the precious oil of Spikenard. We must be a sweet aroma to God, not a stench.

God wants us to love Him with all of our ability and with all the strength we have. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might"(Deut. 6:5). There is a principle that used to be quoted often many years ago in the Church of God. Too bad so many of God's people have forgotten it, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might" (Ecc. 9:10). That certainly applies to our relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. We can't hold anything back.

God doesn't forget anything we do for Him. "Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments"(Deut. 7:9). We can do something for someone on this earth and they forget, but whatever you do for God, He won't forget. Whatever you give up for God, He won't forget. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life"(Matt.19:29)

In the book of Mark, Jesus makes this same subject an object lesson to the crowds following Him and to His disciples, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life [as a living sacrifice] for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels"(Mark 8:34-38). God will rejoice over your efforts to become like Him.

People leave God and they don't fear. They think they will be alright, but they are deceived. Everyone does what seems right in their own mind, forgetting the teachings of God and the example of Jesus Christ. We serve a Great God, but He is also a consuming fire to those who turn away from serving Him. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," as it says in the book of Hebrews. We are called to walk in all His ways, to love and serve Him with all our heart and soul - that is the calling that we have. God will help us in that. God is going to be with us to make sure that we are fulfilling His commandments that He has for us. As long as we don't give up on God, He won't give up on us. He has put us on the path to greatness. We are here now, learning God's ways. These days that we have now are valuable days and we must redeem the time while we still have time. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...."(Matt. 6:33). This has to be the priority in our lives - that God comes first and He is our first love. We must demonstrate that in all we do by obeying Him. We must understand that we are called to become like Him.

We believe on that day when Christ comes again, that He is going to change us, "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory'" (1 Cor. 15:49-54). This will be a great miracle when we are changed and appear and shine like Jesus Christ! But, in order for that to take place, another miracle has to occur in our lives. We must become more and more like Christ, purifying and purging all that is not Christ- like from the alabaster box of our heart, so there is nothing left but pure, precious oil. Christ is there to help us as a power and a strength through God's Holy Spirit, to walk in His steps. Even Jesus, in John 14:10, said it wasn't by His power and strength that He did the things He did. It was the Father who dwelt in Him that did the works.

We have the example of Jesus Christ, a total offering being poured out and the Father was in Him doing the works. Jesus submitted to His Father and the Father was able to use Him. That's why He says, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." Christ qualified, He conquered, He prevailed. His Father was His Master, the Father abided with Him and we have the same help available to us. Jesus Christ comes to us through the Spirit of the Father and lives with us and empowers us and strengthens us to make sure we are walking in His ways. We ourselves cannot do this, but Christ is there resurrected, powerful and glorious; ready to help us. That's His job - to be with us, to strengthen us and give us that might and power to have that same mind that He has - to have the same attitude that Mary of Bethany had. Isaiah, speaking prophetically of Christ, says, "Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death"(Isaiah 53:12). Christ was a sacrifice for us. Who benefitted from this? You and I did brethren. Let's continue the rest of the verse, "He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." This is what Christ is doing now. He died, yes, He poured out His soul for us. But He is alive, resurrected as our Savior and High Priest and He want to be working with us, getting us ready, redeeming the little time that is left. He is knocking on our door, but we must acknowledge Him and allow Him in. We need to be wise about what God would have us do to be qualifying and overcoming - to become fully developed and mature Christians.

In the book of Ephesians we read about another example of Jesus Christ. He is our ultimate example. "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma"(Eph. 5:2). This is what God wants, this is what pleases Him. That is what really puts a smile on His face - to see us copy Jesus Christ and walk as Christ did. If we love Christ, we are going to be loving each other and the same fruits are going to be there where we all benefit and the house of God is edified and we are all built up in that same way. We must be caring and giving to each other and be open and pure hearted, not double minded, or having schisms or other disagreements.

What are the things we prize in our alabaster box? Our own ideas? Our own self-justification and glory? We are not here for our own ideas or to be exalted in the eyes of others. We are here to learn and do God's ideas - His will, not our will. If we do His will, that's how we gain understanding. That's how we are assured the word of God effectively lives in us. In the book of Psalms David asks, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?" The answer? "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psa. 24:3-4).

We must really embrace the ways of God and keep the first and great commandment and love God with all our soul, with all our might and display in our actions, in our deeds and in our countenance, that Christ is active in our life. If we don't, there is another spirit which will readily take us over and destroy us. Either we walk this path God has placed us on, or there is going to be another spirit, the "god" of this world, there to take us on a different path which leads only to death and destruction. Our time is now and Christ has given us ample warning to that effect.

Christ, through the Apostle James tells us what we must do, "Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8). We need God with us. Satan wants to separate us from God. Continue in vs. 8, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts [or the contents of your alabaster box!], you double minded." The Father looks down upon those that are humble and contrite. He wants to elevate us, to set us on the path to greatness, the path that Jesus Christ walked. That's how we are going to end up at Christ's side as His bride - totally pure and chaste. The Bride of Christ must be willing to give herself totally to her Husband.

James letter goes on to say, "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom." This is a serious matter brethren. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge" (James 4:9-11).

Everyone has their own ideas and it comes out in judgments. They criticize, they know better, they judge and condemn. We need to look at ourselves, to judge ourselves, "examine" ourselves, especially in this Passover season, to make sure we are becoming pure in heart - that the contents of our alabaster box is the purest, fragrant oil. As Paul said, in Philip.1:20, he desired to see Christ magnified in his life. James continues, "Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days"(James 5:3) In the end days, by and large, God's people are putting wrong values on different things. God says in Rev. 3:18, that He is the gold tried in the fire - the purest and most precious. He has the riches and the truth, but people don't believe God. They think that they have it. They are "rich and in need of nothing." They have a misunderstanding of what and where the real treasure is. The answer to that is found in Ephesians 1:27, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." That is the real treasure in our life!

Mary of Bethany displayed a right attitude. We, as God's people, His children should understand the treasure that is in Him, the treasure that is in Jesus Christ. We can go astray in having our own ideas and we can treasure them more than what God is offering us. We can lean on our own understandings unto death. We need to do God's will and have a good understanding of all His ways and His commandments. If we love God, trust and serve Him, He will enrich us with deeper understanding and lead us into more truth.

Let's look at another example given by Jesus of someone who thought they had treasure in their "alabaster box" and what their attitude was. "Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' And he said, ‘All these I have kept from my youth.' So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich"(Luke 18:22-23). As this example shows, as well as so many others in the Word of God, it's where our heart is, that is where our treasure is. That is what is in our "alabaster box." We must be like Mary of Bethany - our alabaster box must be filled with the purest, most precious oil and we must willing to give all - to pour everything from our alabaster box in the service of Christ. God wants us to have our hearts with Him, to value Him above everything else. Whatever we treasure, that is what we are going to be serving. You can't serve two masters. It will be either God or mammon.

We have God's words. He is faithful and true. We can take it to the bank. This is God talking to us and we should be treasuring what He says with all our heart and soul. We know that as we commit everything to Him and give Him everything and trust in Him and serve Him and do His will - we know we are in good hands as we give it all to God. He will reward our efforts abundantly, with life everlasting. But, we must demonstrate that we trust in Him and that we are a living testimony of what He is trying to do on this earth. Remember we are called to be a living sacrifice, with a pure heart, as we trust in and submit to God and love Him and the brethren. That is the way we are qualifying. We are becoming more like our Father and this is what will please Him and make us ready to become glorified sons and daughters.