A little more comfort, luxury, or elegance

(J. A. James, "The True Christian" 1846)

"During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful
 jar of expensive perfume. She broke the seal and
 poured the perfume over His head." Mark 14:3

"She did what she could!" Mark 14:8

Have you, like your devoted sister of Bethany, done
what you could? Take an inventory of the means
which the Lord has put into your hands for honoring
Him, and then look over the list of your contributions.

What proportion does your annual giving to the
cause of Christ bear, compared to the cost of . . .
  your furniture,
  your wardrobe,
  your entertainments,
  your ornaments and decorations,
  your luxuries?

Jesus did not withhold from you His very precious
blood! What are you willing to do for Him? What
beautiful jar of expensive perfume have you
broken, will you break for Him?

It is sorrowful to see professing Christians wholly
taken up in getting wealth for themselves--either
hoarding it up--or spending it in the luxuries that
constitute "the pride of life."

Consider, I entreat you, the different results of the
money you spend upon yourselves--and that which
you spend upon Christ. The money you spend selfishly
perishes in the using. The money you spend for the
cause of Christ acquires an imperishable existence.

What you spend in the comforts and elegancies of
life--and what you hoard unnecessarily--dies with
you, when you die. But the wealth which, under the
influence of pure motives, we devote to Christ, will
never die. It is immortal and incorruptible.

Oh Christians! how is it that we can cheat ourselves
of such heavenly felicity and eternal honor, merely to
have a little more comfort, luxury, or elegance here?
Why do we impoverish ourselves in the eternal world,
to enrich ourselves in this present world?

Oh God! Bestow upon us Your grace, that when
we meet You in judgment, we may hear this
commendatory testimony from Your gracious
lips, "They did what they could!"