By Anita Mondragon

 

“Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:7

 

Remember the story of Mary Magdalene in the Bible?  ….

 

Jesus was invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee for dinner.  Simon no doubt wanted to boast of his religious purity.  The presence of Jesus was only requested so that he could later tell his friends that Jesus had been his dinner guest.

 

But, as God would have it, a prostitute showed up…uninvited!  Most of us know the rest of the story….

 

Mary is so overwhelmed by the presence of Jesus, she lets down her hair, washes His feet with her tears, and dries them with her hair.  Then, she breaks her alabaster box full of precious ointment, and anoints His feet.  This in itself was amazing for an alabaster box full of this costly ointment could take a whole lifetime to save for!

 

We all own an alabaster box.  Our boxes are full of things from the past that we hold dear…things we can’t seem to let go of.  Some of these things are precious things…good things.  Others are anger, hurt, resentments.

 

This action by her causes quite a stir among the prominent men at the dinner.  Why?  Because in that culture, when a prostitute let her hair down, it was a sign of seduction.  All the men, including Simon thought she was a worse sinner than they were.  Thus, she was judged harshly by them.

 

How many of us do the same thing?  We see drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, murders, rapists, etc and believe they are worse sinners than us.  God disagrees with this view.  He said, “There is NONE righteous…NO…not one!” -Romans 3:10

 

So….  What’s in YOUR alabaster box? How many hurts have you stored up over the years?  How many regrets?  How many secrets?  How much hatred?  How much unforgiveness towards those who have hurt you?  WHEN will you stop being concerned about who is watching you at the altar?  When will you unashamedly run into the arms of Jesus and cast all your cares upon Him?

 

Take a minute.  Investigate the inventory of your alabaster box.  Do you need to break it at the feet of Jesus?

 

Mary Magdalene walked away from the party that day, FORGIVEN OF ALL HER SINS!  You can do the same….