What you give to Christ equals the measure of His worth in your eyes.

The worth of Jesus is immeasurable. It cannot be calculated. And nothing is too valuable for Him. Mary understood this.

Aware of the criticism that was leveled against her, Jesus said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

The Lord was simply saying, “I am worth far more than the value of this perfume. The poor will always be present, and you can help them whenever you desire. But you will not always have Me with you in the flesh.”

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

What is waste? It is giving more than necessary. Waste is when you give a diamond to a dog. It is when you give something valuable to that which is inferior in worth. When something of value could be better spent elsewhere, we call it waste.

What Judas and the others were really saying was,

“The Lord isn’t worth it.”

Mark it down. Whenever you give that which is most valuable in your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, some of your fellow Christians will consider it to be waste.

“Why aren’t you going to college to prepare for a career? Instead you foolishly chose to give your full attention and time with that group of Christians. Why are you wasting your youth?”

“Why did you break up with that person? They had a great job, and you could have had a wonderful future with them. You forfeited that relationship just because they weren’t as ‘religious’ as you are. Why are you wasting your future?”

“Why did you sell your house and move to a smaller house simply to get involved with that ministry? Why are you wasting your money?”

“Why did you quit your job and relocate to be involved with that church? You now have a lower-paying job. Why are you wasting your life?”

“Why did you use your stock dividends for that work of God? Why are you wasting your savings?”

Whenever you hear the complaint, “Why this waste?” examine it carefully and consider whether you’re hearing the gospel of Judas or not.

If you are, then the Lord’s response where you are concerned is:

“Let him alone …”

“Let her alone …”

“He is doing a beautiful thing to Me.”

“She is doing a beautiful thing to Me.”

What some regard to be waste is beautiful in the Lord’s eyes.

The truth is: the only way to keep yourself from wasting your life is to waste it on Jesus Christ!

Thus the answer to the question, “Why this waste?” is simply … “because Christ is worthy.”

Watchman Nee once said that the Lord will never be satisfied without our “wasting” ourselves upon Him, and “real usefulness in the hand of God is measured in terms of waste.… [O]ur work for him springs out of our ministering to him.”16

Jesus was given costly gifts when He entered into this world. And He was given a costly gift when He was about to exit it.18 Today, He is still worthy of our best. And it is still costly to anoint the head of Christ.

I believe the Lord has His crosshairs sighted on something in all of our lives—whatever which we hold dearest.

Your mind may immediately go to a person who has become a rival for your affections for Jesus. Or it may go to some vice that you know you need to abandon. But the more subtle competitors are actually spiritual things.

We’ve already mentioned that some make “Christian service” a god that competes with Jesus Christ. On that score, Henri Nouwen said that the main obstacle to love for God is service for God.

But another competitor is theology. It’s possible to make theology our god instead of God Himself. We can love theology more than we love God.

The same is true for worship, believe it or not. It’s possible to love the act of singing worship and praise songs to the Lord more than we love the Lord Himself.

It’s possible to love arguing on behalf of God (apologetics), evangelizing for God, preaching about God, writing about God, and studying God (analyzing the Bible) more than loving God Himself.

All of these things are good, of course. But if they don’t lead us to the real person of Christ, they can become idols.

If our hearts are awakened to discover the true worth of Jesus, we will be able to lay all things down at His feet. Herein lies the antidote to being a lukewarm Christian. Our eyes must be opened to behold His peerless glory. Once that happens, we will realize that nothing is too good for Him, and we will break loose from our spiritual lethargy.

This, in fact, was Paul’s great prayer in Ephesians. That God would grant to us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”

Many a preacher has tried to guilt God’s people out of their lukewarm state, using shame, duty, and condemnation as instruments. But such tools are short-lived.

To see Christ with eyes not physical is the cure for spiritual apathy. So expose yourself to ministries that know how to preach Christ in such glory that you’re awed by His greatness and you’re drawn to worship Him. Our alabaster boxes willingly yield at the sight of His peerless worth.

As a friend of mine once said, “The moment He set me free is the moment He captured me.”

—

This article was adapted from God’s Favorite Place on Earth by Frank Viola author.