Live Free with Josh Howerton - Gratitude vs. Greed | Ep. 284 | Thursday, March 7, 2024

Episode Date: March 7, 2024

In John 12, we see Jesus back in Bethany at the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. During dinner, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume as an act of worship and gratitude. In contrast, Judas had a heart hardened by greed, and he criticized her actions. Will you approach Jesus with a heart of greed or gratitude today? For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up? Thanks for tuning in to the Daily Drive. I'm Mike Bro, an honor to be with you on this journey of getting the know Jesus. We are walking through the Gospel of John, which is the fourth book in the New Testament section of the Bible. It is the good news, all about Jesus, and we are in Chapter 12 today. The plot to kill Jesus is well underway. The religious leaders, they want him out of the picture. It's better for the Romans to kill one man than to bring the wrath down on all the people and thus destroy everything they had worked so hard for. These self-servous, they were. These self-s are not good. centered, self-righteous guys, they were in full-on self-preservation mode. It says later over in Matthew 27 that even Pilate the Roman governor could see that it was

because of envy. It was because of envy the religious leaders arrested Jesus. When you live in self-preservation mode, you see people as a threat to your little kingdom. And Jesus was exactly that to them. Now Jesus isn't threatened by any of this, but he stays clear of Jerusalem for a while. It goes out in the desert about 12 miles north of the city to wait on God's timing. And then in chapter 12, we see him back in Bethany a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem at the home of his good friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. John writes this. Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he raised from the dead. It's like John said, just in case you might forget. Lazarus, the guy he raised

from the dead. He was alive. The formerly dead guy. Yeah, we were there at his house. No stench of death, no grave clothes, alive and well, and at the dinner table. That guy. Again, I just love the way John writes this with like, you won't believe he was there, this admiration of what Jesus did. In fact, a whole book reads like this, written by an eyewitness who just can't get over what he's seen and heard, and he wants you and me to feel the same amazement and all, and man, I hope you are. Even though I've read these accounts many, many times, it's just welling up, so fresh in me. as I read it again. John Rice again. In verse 2, he says,

A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor. Martha served. Of course she did. That's what she does. And by the way, I love people like her who serve. Sometimes Martha gets a bad rap, but she was a good-hearted, hard-working woman with a deep love for Jesus and other people. She just expressed it differently than her sister did. And John has this. Again, he says,

Lazarus was among those who ate with him. He's going, dead guy again. Dead guy's not only home, but he's sitting there. eaten. And then there was Mary. Then there was Mary, the feeler among the family. Verse three. Then Mary took a 12-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of Nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. Now this perfume would have been imported from like Northern India, and it was super expensive, equal to about what most people made in a year. It suggests that perhaps this is a few. It suggests that perhaps this

family had some means. They shared their home frequently. They were generous with their stuff. And now Mary just pours out this perfume on Jesus. Mark's gospel adds that she also poured it on Jesus head and it just ran down all over his clothes. But there's so much more going on here. Mary was pouring out her worship. She was pouring at her gratitude for the one who had given her brother back. The one who had spoken the words of life, the one that she knew was the promised Messiah who had come to bring people back to God, and she lets down her hair, which women did not do in public,

and with reckless abandon and sacrifice, she pours at her heart. What are some of your favorite smells? Anybody love bacon frying? Man, that's awesome. Chocolate chip cookies, coffee, fresh-cut grass, wet dogs, maybe not.

I think that God loves the smell of extravagant gratitude, a humble heart that just pour out worship and surrender. Throughout scriptures, he always loved that smell. It's a fragrant aroma to him. Still is. But there's also a foul stench in the ear. Because over in the Gospel of Matthew, it says, the disciples were indignant when they saw this. What a waste, they said. It could have been sold for a high price than the money given to the poor. Mark adds that they scolded her harshly. What do you think you're doing? And while Matthew includes all of the disciples joining in on it,

John identifies that the chief critic was a guy named Judas. John adds Judas didn't really care about the poor, but rather being the treasure of our group he'd been lining his own pockets. Judas's heart stands in direct contrast to Mary's. He was unable to love the way she did. He was unable to surrender everything in lavish worship on God. Why? Because his life revolved around himself.

What's in it for me? He didn't have a heart of compassion. He had a heart of greed. And when you can hide greed under the cloak of compassion for the poor, you got a really dark heart, a heart that will lead you to do the kind of thing he eventually does. And when I contrast the two hearts, Judices and Mary's, I know which one I want to be like,

and I also know which one I could drift toward if I ever lose my sense of gratitude. And I thought again how gratitude just sweeps away stuff like greed and envy and arrogance it fosters contentment and worship, when you're truly grateful for what God has done for you for the way He's blessed your life, then worship and generosity, compassion,

it just flows out of you. I want her kind of heart, don't you? But like Judas, when you're always wanting more, when you're always filled with selfish ambition, when you're never satisfied, you live ungrateful with a sense of entitlement, it will lead you down some pretty dark roads. This guy hung out with Jesus for three years.

He had seen in her, heard the same amazing things, but his heart did not beat strong for God. He didn't care about the poor. He didn't care about his friends. He didn't care about anybody else but himself. Once again, self-interest suffocates real life. A lack of love and gratitude can lead your heart to some dark, dark places. And like Judas, your life will end up being a thing that gets wasted.

So embrace the heart of Mary today. I pray that today you would live in grateful worship with a humble and surrendered heart pouring out your love and affection on the one that has come to bring you back to God. And I'll see you back tomorrow. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit Lake point.church slash daily drive.