https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/29/the-coffee-bean-bowl
Let’s say, for example, the Lord prompts you to give a gift of RM5,000 (and at the rate our currency markets are heading, that is looking more and more like just one thousand US Dollars) to someone who doesn’t appear to be struggling financially. Do you do that or would you instead give that money to a more deserving person like a full time worker or the poor? Of course we do not know the exact situation of that person. But assuming there is no hidden need like he is secretly suffering from cancer and require money for treatment. Let’s assume he is living normally and yet the Lord prompts you to give him that gift.
This is similar to the situation faced by Mary 6 days before the Passover when Jesus visited her family home and for background, at the time when Lazarus, Mary’s brother, was just recently raised from the dead. The Passover was significant as that was the day Jesus had His last meal (which later became our Holy Communion) before He was crucified. Was it wrong for Mary to “waste” a whole bottle of perfume on Jesus’s feet when it could have been sold and given to the poor as Judas Iscariot had suggested. Of course we know Judas was not sincere in his suggestion as he was conflicted. The point remains that it could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Jesus however disagreed that it was bad decision.
I think the first point we should take note is that the perfume was Mary’s to give and not Judas to sell. We mustn’t criticise if it is not ours to give. But the more fundamental point is that if it was sold and the proceeds given to the poor, Jesus would not have been honoured in that special way before his death that was just 6-7 days away. The fragrance of the perfume filled the room and everyone enjoyed the fragrance that was honouring Jesus who would soon be dying for the sins of mankind. Surely the Son of Man was worth honouring in that manner. Actually in the larger scheme of things, nothing could have compared to the ultimate sacrifice He made in paving the way for mankind to reconcile with the Father and thus a bottle of perfume although worth a year’s wages, pales in comparison with His sacrifice and is thus still just a token of appreciation.
If the Lord prompts us to give, just give. Don’t question God and don’t question others who are likewise prompted. The Holy Spirit knows best and we just obey and follow His lead. God has a purpose and a plan. We just need to be His facilitator like Mary did in the case of her perfume and Jesus. In the end, at least someone from the human race had made the effort to honour Jesus before He went to the cross for you and I and everyone else!
Ronnie's Thoughts 