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While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.
The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” (Matthew 26:7–13 NLT)
By some reckonings, this alabaster jar of expensive perfume was worth at least $20,000 in today’s dollars. By all accounts, this woman’s use of such extravagant perfume did not at all appear to be frugal. Put in that situation, many of us would fall in line with the disciples, calling for good stewardship of resources rather than wasteful symbols. Yet, Jesus came to this woman’s defense. He called her act a good thing. Though this act cost her a lot of money, it was still a frugal act because she did what needed to be done; she was integral in preparing Jesus’s body for what would come later that week.
There is nothing miserly about being frugal. Frugality is very simply tempering the way in which you use what you have so that your actions are not driven by your desires, but by need—yours and others. It is choosing to live simply so that you can live generously.
Take this woman’s story to heart today. There is a reason Jesus says her story will be repeated wherever the Good News is preached. Find some way to use what God has given to you this day to bless someone. Ask God to help you discern where your resources are most needed and take steps to follow the lead of the woman with the alabaster jar.
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Give and you shall receive, much more than you ever thought possible. Give and give again. Keep hoping, keep trying, keep giving! People who give will never be poor!
—Anne Frank
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