She too was not esteemed by man. They saw her and they saw sin. They saw her and they said, “worthless.” They saw a past lived in wretchedness. They saw pointless, purposeless. Maybe you too have been perceived in this way before, or have even seen yourself in this way.
He saw treasure. He saw value greater than gold and worth more than silver. He saw purpose, purity, love. He saw one who desired to live for Him, to love only Him, to be only His. He saw one who loved and who loved much. He saw wholehearted devotion, selfless abandonment. He saw her heart.
She risked stoning by the Pharisees, the rejection of society. She pushed back thoughts of pain, death and accusation. Her heart desired after one thing. She wanted only to give Him the worship due Him, to pour out her love to Him. She relinquished concerns of what the religious and her society would say. She wanted only to give Him all her devotion, all her worship.
He saw love. He saw pure beauty, true value. He treasured not merely her act of love and worship, but her heart for Him. Was she perfect? No. But it was no matter to Him, for He declared her lovely and worth it all.
And she poured out her worship at His feet. Valuable oil flowed from the vessel of alabaster. She gave her life’s inheritance, contained in that jar, all to anoint Jesus’ feet. She gave of her heart even more, the oil merely a symbol of the priceless gift of her love and worship. She chose the good part.
He saw more than a vessel of oil, more than an inheritance given. He saw her. He saw a heart surrendered, a life given to love Him. He saw not sin, not a blemished past, not a flawed woman to be scorned. He saw a woman highly esteemed by Heaven, one voluntarily giving her love to Him, the one for whom He gave His life.
He saw you. He saw His Bride.
…What do you see?
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Scriptures: Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8; Psalm 27:4; Luke 10:38-42