We had a good day here at Canaan yesterday. With it being Valentine's Day, I felt led to preach on Extravagant Love. The word extravagant means excessively high, exceeding the bounds of reason. We looked at the example of Mary from Mark 14:1-9, when she broke open her alabaster box and poured the spikenard on the head and feet of Jesus and washed His feet with her hair. This was, in my opinion, a great act of Extravagant Love. My heart was convicted as I studied and preached on it. The question kept coming to my mind, do I love the Lord that way? I really want to, I strive to, but do I? You see, Mary loved the Lord so much that she gave Him her greatest possession, her alabaster box with the spikenard ointment in it. Do I love Him enough to give Him my greatest possessions? What about you? Do you love Him with an extravagant love, witholding nothing back from Him, not even your greatest possession? What is your greatest possession, your car, your home, your job, your career, your children? Would you give it to the Lord if He asked?
There were four things we looked at concerning Extravagant Love yesterday morning:
I. Extravagant Love is Costly - it cost Mary something to love the Lord, her alabaster box and ointment.
II. Extravagant Love is Criticized - anytime you do anything for the Lord, there will always be a critic in the background. This time, it was Judas. He called Mary's act of worship a waste.
III. Extravagant Love is Commended - what Judas called a waste, the Lord called good. He said that she had done a good work. I pray that my work for the Lord would be a good work.
IV. Extravagant Love is Cited - the memorial of what this lady did has been recorded in Scripture forever. The Lord cited her good work for eternity. What a blessing to know the Lord is keeping a record or our labor. The things we think no one notices down here, He notices. He'll not forget our love and labor for Him.
Extravagant Love. May the Lord help me to love Him with a greater love than ever before. I hope you had a good day yesterday.
