Dirt has to be broken to receive a seed that will someday grow to a plant producing fruit. Grain must be crushed before it can be used for bread.

It’s the broken heart that pleases God, not one that is hurting, but one that is contrite and open before Him.

“While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.” Mark 14:3.

This was Mary, his friend, and the sister of Lazarus and Martha.

She knew Jesus well, so why was what she did so remarkable? She gave all of her attention to Jesus, letting everything else go, and was willing to sacrifice something of great worth for Him.

The book of John said it was a pound of perfume called a spikenard. It was very expensive, and the amount of perfume was worth a lot of money.

It was kept in a jar, which if the jar was broken, it obviously could not be replaced. When she broke it and started pouring it over Jesus, it covered him. She broke it to show her love for Jesus.

In the same way, Jesus had to be broken to save us, both bodily and emotionally. There was no half-way in His sacrifice. It was all or nothing.

As His body was broken and his blood poured out, it was at a great cost. It took His sacrifice to set us free from the penalty of death.

Sometimes, we have to be broken to be used by God. We have to be willing to sacrifice, sometimes a great deal, to be blessed.

The blessings may not be monetary or even visible to the ordinary eye. Mary’s gift was a sacrifice, but to her Jesus was worth it.

A sacrifice that we give will also be worth it, for it is then that we truly sit at His feet.

Are you willing to sacrifice to be blessed? Is Jesus worth it to you? Are you willing to give all you have to sit at His feet and rest in Him?

–by Pam Rehbein