September 27th Daily Devotion - Day 3

Extravagant Worship

Reading: John 12:1-8 — Six days before Passover, Mary of Bethany takes an alabaster jar of pure nard perfume worth a year's wages and anoints Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair. The house is filled with fragrance. Judas objects, calling it wasteful. Jesus defends her, saying she has done something beautiful.

Devotional: Mary's act of worship was not reasonable by any cultural or financial standard. She poured out what was precious, costly, and irreplaceable. She abandoned dignity, loosening her hair in public, to honor the one she loved most. Judas called it waste. Jesus called it beautiful. The world will always have a practical argument against extravagant devotion. There will always be a reason to hold something back. But Mary had discovered that Jesus was worth everything she had. True worship costs something. It asks us to pour out what we treasure most and trust that He is worth it.

Reflection Question: What is the most costly thing you have ever offered to God — your time, your comfort, your reputation, your plans? What did that act of surrender reveal about the condition of your heart?

Practical Application: Identify one area of your life where you have been holding back from full surrender. Today, make a deliberate act of offering that area to God, whether through prayer, a practical decision, or a conversation you have been avoiding.