JOHN 12:7-8

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

TO PONDER

A long time ago I went to a fast food restaurant on King Street, Newcastle, with some mates. After ordering and paying for the meal we made our way to a table and before taking my seat I checked to make sure I wasn’t sitting on anything unpleasant (after all it was Newcastle) when I glimpsed something quite unexpected, a large wad of cash!

Jealous exclamations, disguised as joy, were shared by my mates at how lucky I was to have found what amounted to a weeks pay, changed to shock and disbelief when I walked to the counter to hand the “windfall” in.

Fast forward six months to a year later a new guy started working with the company I was working for and after a few weeks working with this guy and getting to know each other he asked me what he called a strange question; if I had ever found a wad of cash at a fast food restaurant some time before and then told me a story.

He had just been paid one week earlier, so had decided to take his wife and five kids out for a special dinner and had lost his whole weeks pay packet somewhere. Expecting it to be lost for good he, out of desperation, decided to retrace his steps and went to the counter of the restaurant with no expectations, other than for disappointment, of finding his lost pay. 

With tears forming in his eyes he asked if I was the one who had found that money as all he had been told was the name of the person who had handed it in.

Today’s verses are about a lady who wanted to show unreasonable hospitality to a rabbi who had shown kindness, respect and forgiveness to her, what she meant as an extravagant act of personal blessing became a prophetic act of preparation for an event that would change the history of the world.

We never know when our simple/extravagant act of blessing towards someone will be used to change the history of that individual or perhaps even the world.

PRAYER: 

Almighty God, I thank you that an act of hospitality to a person I encounter today could be the blessing that changes their life and perhaps the world. Amen.