Family Holy Week DevotionalSample

READ TOGETHER

During Holy Week (we don’t know exactly which day all of these things happened), Jesus was having dinner in Bethany, a city just outside of Jerusalem, at the home of a man named Simon. During this dinner, something unusual happened. A woman named Mary brought one of her most valued treasures to Jesus. It was a bottle of very expensive perfume! It wasn’t just a little bottle either like your mom or grandma might have. She had a whole pint -- that’s 2 cups of perfume! Do you know what she did with that perfume? She broke the bottle open, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and then wiped his feet with her hair. The Bible says that the whole house was filled with the scent of the perfume!

This might seem a little funny to you, but to Jesus this was an act of great honor. This was Mary’s way of showing Jesus how much she loved him! She brought him the most valuable thing she owned, like if you brought your favorite toy, something special someone gave you, or all of the money in your piggy bank! Most people would think that this was a very nice thing to do, but can you believe that some of the people at that dinner actually got upset with Mary?

Judas Iscariot, who was one of Jesus’ disciples, thought that she had wasted all of that perfume. He said that the perfume was worth too much money! (And it was worth a lot of money….a year’s salary, which is all of the money someone would make in a whole year!) He said she should have sold the perfume so that they could give the money to the poor. Now, it’s a good thing to give money to people who need it, but Judas wasn’t saying this to be kind. He was saying it because he was being selfish, and really wanted to take the money for himself. 

Jesus told Judas, and everyone at the dinner, that Mary had done a very special thing for him. He said she had saved that perfume for the day of his burial. Jesus knew, even if the others didn’t, that it was only a few days before he would be crucified and buried. And he also knew that Mary had brought him what mattered most to her because of her deep love for him. 

Jesus still wants us to bring our very best to him. Just like Mary brought what was most valuable to her, he wants you to bring what is most valuable to you. He doesn’t just want your best Lego set, or your favorite books. He wants you to give him your heart, which really means that you ask him to be in every little part of your life. When you give Jesus your best, your heart, your life, you make him your King over everything! And that’s what he really wants, because he loves you more than you could ever imagine.

TALK TOGETHER

1 - Talk about your most valuable possession. Why is it so important to you?

2 - What can our family give to God to show that we value him most of all? Time? Money? Service?

PRAY TOGETHER 

Dear God, you are worth more than all of the riches that we have on this earth! Help us to always know how to bring you our best. Help us to remember that you are worth more than anything on this earth that we love or any money that we earn. You are the best treasure we can ever have! We love you! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.