OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SATURDAY- 01/03/2014 - IN MEMORIAL BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

IN MEMORIAL

MEMORISE

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Mark 14:9

READ

Mark 14:6-9

6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

MESSAGE

Jesus Christ was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. As He sat down to eat, a woman came with a costly perfumed ointment and poured it on his head. Some hypocrites saw it as a waste of resources because they felt the ointment could have been sold for a great deal of money which could have been given to the poor. Jesus saw their ulterior motives and in Mark 14:6-7 said:

“.....Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.”

It is amazing to see people think that whatever someone does for his or her Maker is a waste, as we see in this story. To the surprise of those who were present at that place, Jesus said the woman shall forever be remembered for that singular act of anointing His body in preparation for His burial! There are lots of lessons to be learnt from this story; one of such lessons is that the body of our aged parents should be prepared for ‘burial’ a long time before they die. How? By taking good care of them while they are alive. When they die and we buy golden caskets to bury them or we buy 1,000 cows to entertain guests at their burial, it is a mere exercise in futility. The dead do not appreciate golden caskets, neither do they eat delicacies from fatted cows. If we live by this principle, the law of harvest will come to play down the line.

“And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.”

Acts 10:4

Another lesson we learn from this story is that whatever we do for God is not only appreciated now, it is also kept in divine memory! Can you imagine that what a woman did over 2,000 years ago is still being talked about in the 21st century? Jesus said that the woman’s good deed shall be spoken of wherever the gospel shall be preached. In addition, we must learn not to listen to what people say whenever we are moved, particularly by the Holy Spirit, to do something for God (Galatians 1:15-16). The story was told of one of my sons, who on receiving a divine call into the ministry, was advised by some people that he was too young to waste away his youthful vigour preaching the gospel; “such a task is meant for drop-outs”, they said to him. The young man shunned this deadly counsel and went ahead to resign his secular appointment with the government. Today, he is fulfilled, joyfully doing what God has called him to do.

ACTION POINT

What is that thing that God is asking you to do for Him? Go ahead and do it NOW.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Jeremiah 19:1-22:10; 

Psalm 49