Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, fine people.

Becki and I managed another walk/jog around our own driveway again—without meeting with very much rain. Now I need to organized the main points of the day which will involve a run to get sawmill blades that are ready, have the car serviced, and pick up Becki’s wedding ring that we left last evening with a jewelery repair person.

The reason Becki’s ring needs repair calls for an interesting story. We were fairly new resident missionaries on the island of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) when Becki was out hanging up the clothes to dry on a clothesline. A terrible blast of pain hit her ring finger—the sting of a nasty wasp. Before she thought to remove her ring, the finger swelled so big so fast that there was no way to get it off. I’m glad I was home at the time. I had to use a pair of diagonal cutters to nip the shank. Even though it has been repaired since, it has fractured again at the same spot.

Enough of the trivia. I need to get on with the work. May yours be blessed.

Love, Dad/Ray.

It seems to me that this little sentence could be an appropriate epitaph on her tombstone. “She did what she could.” She may not have been extremely talented, famous, or influential, but she did what she could. She made use of the resources she had. She took advantage of opportunities to serve the One she chose to be her Lord.

Question: Did everyone understand and appreciate this woman’s act of worship? Nope. In fact it triggered some rather ugly conflict. Mark records that “some of those present…rebuked her harshly” (vv. 4-5). We are not told a lot about this “woman” or about all the details of this incident other than the fact that the onlookers judged that she took something very valuable and wasted it on Jesus. I think there’s a profound lesson here: When you waste your life by serving Christ as Lord, you will meet with some of the same contempt from those who are antagonistic to the whole idea of Christ as Lord. So what else is new? The wonderful fact is, however, that there was no rebuking from Jesus. He didn’t call it a waste. In fact He applauded her, saying “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” One more question: Who’s judgment matters most?

Hmm. I’m giving this some personal reflection. Sooner or later this old body I temporarily live in is going to end up in some cold dark grave. When that happens, at this point in time I cannot imagine an epitaph more attractive to me. I would hope that such a statement could appropriately characterize the few short years of my plodding on this planet. “He did what he could.” Not very fancy. No flash. No frills. Not very famous. Mistakes here and there. A few puny achievements. Soon forgotten. But, “he did what he could.” I’ll accept that.

It really is good to remember that the standard God uses to determine your success is, in fact, you yourself. That is, He will never expect you to perform outside the parameters of your individual potential. You will be measured against the standard of what you could have been and done. And through Christ you CAN come the closest to living up to your potential toward becoming all you should be—and doing all you should do. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). And remember—THIS IS THE FIRST DAY IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.