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Written by C.H. Mackintosh
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Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
It is very needful to bear in mind, in this day of busy doing and
restless activity, that God looks at everything from one stand point,
measures everything by one rule, tries everything by one touchstone,
and that touchstone, that rule, that standpoint is Christ.
 He values
things just so far as they stand connected with the Son of His love,
and no farther. Whatever is done to Christ, whatever is done for Him,
is precious to God. All beside is valueless. A large amount of work may
be done, and a great deal of praise drawn forth thereby, from human
lips; but when God comes to examine it, He will simply look for one
thing, and that is, the measure in which it stands connected with
Christ. His great question will be, Has it been done in, and to the
Name of Jesus? If it has, it will stand approved, and be rewarded; if
not, it will be rejected and burnt up.
It does not matter in the least what men's thoughts may be about any
particular piece of work. They may laud a person to the skies, for
something he is doing; they may parade his name in the public journals
of the day; they may make him the subject of discourse in their drawing
room circle; he may have a great name as a preacher, a teacher, a
writer, a moral reformer; but, if he cannot connect his work with the
name of Jesus - if it is not done to Him and to His glory - if it is
not the fruit of the constraining love of Christ, it will all be blown
away like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and sunk into
eternal oblivion.
On the contrary, a man may pursue a quiet, humble, lowly path of
service, unknown and unnoticed. His name may never be heard, his work
may never be thought of; but what has been done, has been done in
simple love to Christ. He has wrought, in obscurity, with his eye on
his Master. The smile of his Lord has been quite enough for him. He has
never thought, for one moment, of seeking man's approval; he has never
sought to catch his smile or shun his frown; he has pursued the even
tenor of his way, simply looking to Christ, and acting for Him. His
work will stand. It will be remembered and rewarded, though he did not
do it for remembrance or reward, but from simple love to Jesus. It is
work of the right stamp - genuine coin which will abide the fire of the
day of the Lord.
It is an unspeakable mercy to be delivered from the time-serving,
men-pleasing spirit of the present day; and to be enabled to walk, ever
and only before the Lord - to have "all our works begun, continued, and
ended in Him." Let us look, for a few moments, at the lovely and most
touching illustration of this, presented to us in "the house of Simon
the leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very
precious ointment, and poured it on His head, as He sat at meat." Now,
if we inquire as to this woman's object, as she bent her steps to
Simon's house, what was it? Was it to display the exquisite perfume of
her ointment, or the material and form of her alabaster box? Was it to
obtain the praise of men for her act? Was it to get a name for
extraordinary devotedness to Christ, in the midst of a little knot of
personal friends of the Savior? No, reader, it was none of these
things. How do we know? Because, the Most High God, the Creator of all
things, who knows the deepest secrets of all hearts, and the true
motive spring of every action - He was there in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth.
His holy and all-penetrating eye went right down into the very depths
of this woman's soul. He knew, not only what she had done, but, how and
why she had done it; and He declared, "She hath wrought a good work
upon me." In a word, then, Christ Himself was the immediate object of
this woman's soul; and it was this which gave value to her act, and
sent the odor of her ointment straight up to the throne of God.
He not only vindicated her at the moment, but handed it down into the
future. This was quite enough for the heart of this woman. Having the
approval of her Lord, she could well afford to bear the "indignation"
even of "the disciples," and to hear her act pronounced "waste." It was
sufficient for her that His heart had been refreshed. All the rest
might go for what it was worth. She had never thought of securing man's
praise, or of avoiding his scorn. Her one undivided object, from first
to last, was Christ. From the moment she laid her hand upon that
alabaster box, until she broke it, and poured its contents upon His
sacred Person, it was of Himself alone she thought. She had a kind of
intuitive perception of what would be suitable and grateful to her
Lord, in the solemn circumstances in which He was placed at the moment,
and, with exquisite tact, she did that thing. She had never thought of
what the ointment might fetch; or, if she had, she felt that He was
worth ten thousand times as much. As to "the poor," they had their
place, no doubt, and their claims also; but she felt that Jesus was
more to her than all the poor in the world.
In short, the woman's heart was filled with Christ, and it was this
that gave character to her action. Others might pronounce it "waste;"
but we may rest assured that nothing is wasted which is spent for
Christ. So the woman judged: and she was right. To put honor upon Him,
at the very moment when earth and hell were rising up against Him, was
the very highest act of service that man or angel could perform. He was
going to be offered up. The shadows were lengthening, the gloom was
deepening, the darkness thickening. The cross - with all its horrors -
was at hand; and this woman anticipated it all, and came, beforehand,
to anoint the body of her adorable Lord. And mark the result. See how
immediately the blessed Lord enters upon her defense, and shields her
from the indignation and scorn of those who ought to have known better.
"When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman?
For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always
with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this
ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily, I say unto you,
wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman
has done will also be told as a memorial to her."
See that you keep your eye directly upon the Master, in all you do.
Make Jesus the immediate object of every little act of service, no
matter what. Seek to do your every work so He may be able to say, "It
is a good work upon me." Do not be occupied with the thoughts of men as
to your path or as to your work. Do not mind their indignation or their
misunderstanding, but pour your alabaster box of ointment upon the
person of your Lord. See that your every act of service is the fruit of
your heart's appreciation of Him; and be assured He will appreciate
your work and vindicate you before assembled myriads.
Thus it was with the woman of whom we have been reading. She took her
alabaster box, and made her way to the house of Simon the leper, with
one goal in her heart, namely, Jesus and what was before Him. She was
absorbed in Him. She thought of none beside, but poured her precious
ointment on His head. And note the blessed issue. Her act has come down
to us, in the gospel record, coupled with His blessed Name. No one can
read the gospel without reading also the memorial of her personal
devotedness.
Empires have risen, flourished, and passed away into the region of
silence and oblivion. Monuments have been erected to commemorate human
genius, greatness, - and these monuments have crumbled into dust; but
the act of this woman still lives, and shall live forever. May we have
grace to imitate her.
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