Over-The-Top

1 Chr.22:¹⁴ “I have worked hard to provide materials for building the Temple of the Lord—nearly 4,000 tons of gold, 40,000 tons of silver, and so much iron and bronze that it cannot be weighed. I have also gathered timber and stone for the walls, though you may need to add more.”

Luke 7:^36-39 “Afterward Simeon, a Jewish religious leader, asked Jesus to his home for dinner. Jesus accepted the invitation. When he went to Simeon’s home, he took his place at the table. In the neighborhood there was an immoral woman of the streets, known to all to be a prostitute. When she heard that Jesus was at Simeon’s house, she took an exquisite flask made from alabaster, filled it with the most expensive perfume, went right into the home of the Jewish religious leader, and in front of all the guests, she knelt at the feet of Jesus. Broken and weeping, she covered his feet with the tears that fell from her face. She kept crying and drying his feet with her long hair. Over and over she kissed Jesus’ feet. Then, as an act of worship, she opened her flask and anointed his feet with her costly perfume. When Simeon saw what was happening, he thought, “This man can’t be a true prophet. If he were really a prophet, he would know what kind of sinful woman is touching him.” (TPT, emphasis added). The Passion Translation titles this passage, Extravagant Worship.

This woman’s act of worship to Jesus was extravagant, it does not make sense, it was overly excessive, fanatical. When your love for God and your devotion to Him has not yet been defined as extravagant, then you are not there yet. When you are giving of your life, your substance, and yourself to God and even you are wondering what came over you – Extravagant. David shows us clearly that true worship is extravagant. In 2 Sam.24:²⁴ David said, “…I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing…” (GNT, emphasis added). Araunah offered to give David the threshing floor and oxen for his offerings. But David insisted on paying the full amount for it because he cannot offer to God what has not cost him anything. Increasingly, there are people that think that their walk with God can get any traction without sacrifice. You cannot get it right like that because spiritual things do not work like that. And not many people are excited about this truth. However, the truth is that spiritual things do not work like that.

The way it works is by sacrifice; and it may not even make sense to your spouse, or to your siblings, or to your friends. If Abraham had told Sarah that he was going to sacrifice Isaac to God, what do you think would have happened? The boy Sarah waited for and received in old age? Sarah would have insisted that Abraham kills her first. The Bible was silent about that, but I reckoned that Abraham did not tell Sarah because the story would have been very different. Cece Winans captures it perfectly in her song, ‘Alabaster Box’ when she says, “You weren’t there the night He found me. You did not feel what I felt when He wrapped His loving arms around me. And you don’t know the cost of the oil in my Alabaster box.” You cannot be the judge over my sacrifice to God because you do not even know where we are coming from.

Prayer [song]: King of endless worth, no one could express, how much You deserve. Though I’m weak and poor, all I have is Yours, every single breath… Amen!