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The Unfathomable Worth of Christ

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.”

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. 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 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.”  

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frankviola@churchleaders.com'
FRANK VIOLA has helped thousands of people around the world to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and enter into a more vibrant and authentic experience of church. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply, gain fresh perspectives on old or ignored subjects, and make the Bible come alive. Viola has written many books on these themes, including God's Favorite Place on Earth and From Eternity to Here. His blog, Beyond Evangelical, is rated as one of the most popular in Christian circles today.