Hebrews 12:26-29
“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken, that is, created things, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and aw, for our God is a consuming fire.”
We may face difficult seasons in life when it feels as though we are walking through a shaking. The shaking forces us to see what we are holding onto that will one day be removed, and thus, help us to release our grip and lay hold of the unshakable. The only thing that will survive in its present form will be God’s kingdom and those who belong to it. Let’s repeat that:
The only thing that will survive in its present form will be God’s kingdom and those who belong to it.
This puts a whole new perspective on what I have been esteeming as valuable and important in my life. If what I am holding onto, staking my life’s peace upon, will in the end be removed, could this be a time to readjust my grip? When Mary poured out her most valuable possession upon he feet of Jesus, a jar of perfume that cost her a year’s wages, she was no longer holding to the worth of that jar of perfume. Her grip had changed as she let go of something that, in the end, would hold no value for her salvation. Her grip now fastened upon the man in front of her. The man in front of her had eternal value as He offered her a kingdom that far outweighs the worth of her jar of perfume (John 12:1-8).
All things may pass away; the world as we know it may be uprooted; life as we experience it may come to an end; but one thing stands eternally sure, the relationship of the Christian to God. If this is true, and we know that it is because the Word of God declares it to be, then nothing must be allowed to disturb or come between this relationship that will be our salvation when the world passes away.
The author of Hebrews ends chapter 12 with a sober warning, “Our God is a consuming fire.” There is a choice before us. As we remain steadfastly true to God and hold tightly to Him, in the day when the universe is shaken into destruction, our relationship with Him will stand safe and secure. If I am true to God, I gain everything, but if I hold to my life here as more important than God, then I will lose everything. In the end, nothing will matter except my faithfulness to God. This is why the author of Hebrews is so adamant about fixing our eyes on Jesus and running the race with perseverance. Let’s keep our eyes on the goal at the end of the finish line. No matter what this life brings, we have an eternal kingdom that awaits us that will be to us life everlasting.
How did Mary know the worth of Jesus? How did she come to that conclusion? Because she had sate at His feet. She had listened. When others were busy and focused on other things, she kept her gaze at Jesus. Maybe, in your time of shaking, you have been given an opportunity to see what you have been holding too tightly that in the end will be shaken. You can bet when Mary grew older and breathed her last breath, she was not thinking about that alabaster jar of perfume, she was most likely thinking about being reunited once again with the man whose feet she sat at. The man who changed her life. She would recognize her Savior because she had spent time with Him and that is the relationship that would be the only thing that mattered in the end.
May we spend time at the feet of Jesus, listening, loving, and worshiping. And may we be ready to release the grip on our own alabaster jars and stake everything we have on Jesus.
