I sat in the church pew with a shredded heart. The week had been tough on multiple fronts, emotion running high, mostly over the injustices of a sick and fallen world.
I, too, felt broken. In need.
And then she took my hand in her small hand, not really knowing, yet . . . somehow knowing. She cupped my hand between two warm hands, snuggled into my side.
The tears started to creep down my cheeks.
This was not off putting to her; she merely ramped up her tender efforts, kissing me ever so gently on the cheek. She tilted her head, gazed into my eyes.
While most of us shy away from such overt demonstrations of affection, especially in public, Mary did not. She lavished me with a love I will cherish in my memory.
One of those grandchild moments stored away to pull out when I need an extra dose of encouragement.
I wonder if during the dark days ahead Jesus drew on His memory of the woman, also named Mary, who lavished Him with costly perfume in preparation for His burial. She loved Him with full abandon, not caring what others in the room thought (John 12:1-8).
Pastor and author, Mike Leake, writes that Mary gave up a lesser love (the expensive perfume worth a year’s wages) to focus on her chief Love, the Lord Jesus. According to Leake, abandoning oneself to Jesus will always require smashing lesser loves. (Read the full article here).
Lesser loves such as people approval, pride, ambition, pleasure, convenience, comfort . . .
You name it! We all have loves.
The hard place of discipleship always requires a letting go of something or someone in order to move toward Jesus Christ and His purpose for our lives.
Thus the haunting question . . .
Do I settle for lesser loves, or do I rally around a greater Love, the Lord Jesus?
It is a question I must ask myself because it’s simply too easy to settle for less.
Yet sometimes in His mercy and grace, God sends a compelling wakeup call through the simple, yet lavish love of a grandchild.
