What motivates you?
What
do you think motivated Mary to anoint Jesus' feet? What motivated Judas to
criticize her?
Some
people say, “You can judge the actions of others but you can’t judge their
motives.” I am not for sure about that statement because sometimes you really
can’t judge someone’s actions and sometimes you absolutely judge their motives.
You
might could think Mary anointed Jesus feet because of guilt, fear, greed,
selfishness, or a dozen different other reasons, but to me it seems quite
obvious, she anointed Jesus simply out of gratitude and love.
Judas’s
motives in stating that the money could have been used for the poor could have
been out of a sincere heart that he cared for the poor, and even though he
loved Jesus deeply, he was simply curious on why Mary didn’t think about using
the money it cost for the ointment.
See
what I mean? Maybe not always but sometimes you can discern what people’s
motivations are.
What about you?
The
reason why they call it Black Friday is because it many cases businesses
operate in the “red” or with a negative bank balance until the day after
Thanksgiving. When shoppers come in and buy for Christmas, finally they make a
profit and have a positive bank balance.
So
what does that have to do with motivations and discerning people’s motives in
what they do? It depends on what you think about Good Friday.
What
motivates you to do what you do? When you walk by a Salvation Army Kettle and hear a
bell ringer, are you giving because you really care about the poor? Do you give
out of guilt? Do you give because you want to make the poor happier? Do you
want to make God happy?
To
really discern your motivation, you have to go to the cross of Jesus. On that
Good Friday, what happened? He died on the cross for you. He gave you eternal
life absolutely free. He truly rescued you from a life of sin, followed by an
eternity of judgment, condemnation and damnation. He literally became the
whipping boy of your sin’s punishment.
Do
you believe that? That you were so miserably sinful that it took the horrific
crucifixion of Christ to take away your sins so that you could spend eternity
free of guilt? Or do you sometimes think you have to help God out in absolving
your sin?
It
is difficult to discern the motives of others, but what about your own? Do you
wash Jesus’ feet out of love and sacrificially give to Him or others with pure
motivations?
Before
Good Friday, you were in the red spiritually. You were so desperately bankrupt
that you could never climb out of your debts of sin. But with Christ’s deposit
of His righteousness into your account, you suddenly were reconciled in God’s
bank ledger.
You
no longer have to worry about “going under” in your account. You have God’s
absolute forgiveness because of Jesus going in the red by shedding his blood
for you. Your motivation should not be that you want to pay God back, or
somehow earn your kazillion dollars He placed in your account…you can never
repay the price Jesus paid on the cross.
But
like Mary, you can have a thankful heart. You can give to the poor always even
when there is no bell ringer making you feel guilty. You can live your life as a
thank you card back to the Lord, not to earn what He did, or to make you look
better to others or even to earn a jewel in your crown when you get to heaven.
You
can be motivated because you know you’ve been forgiven, that you are loved.
Because you know that you are a child of the King and you’ve been given all the
riches of the universe when you were given God’s spirit of adoption in your
heart.
Pray this prayer to God: Abba Daddy,
help me to live like a King’s Kid. Help me remember who I am and whose I am.
Let every act I do be in the spirit of gratitude and desire to simply love as I
have been loved by you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
