The Fragant Oil of Worship

"A passionate pursuit of God delights Him, and it's when we pursue Him and abide in His presence in the one place of absolute devotion and intimacy--that glorious place of His feet--that we feel Him return our holy kiss: 'To beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious' (Is. 60:13b). It's then that we smell the aroma of His love drifting back. It's then that His love pierces our hearts and wrecks us for eternity. It's then that we experience the glory."

I always love the story of Jesus anointed at Bethany. It's one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. I was deeply touched by Mary's passion, love, worship and faith for the Lord. Last night I saw an article, "The Fragrant Oil of Worship" by Todd Bentley, which talks about this story and the true passion, true worship, true intimacy that release the fragrant oil of anointing and its aroma.

"Mary of Bethany was a woman of great passion because she knew she was rescued out of a pit of ungodly spiritual darkness. She remembered what it was like to live without God in her life. She knew the mercy and love of God that forgave her great sin, and she was forever indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe she came to the Pharisee's house to see Jesus because of her great love and devotion to the Lord.... I don't believe she realized the prophetic significance concerning anointing Jesus for His burial. Rather her whole motive flowed from a burning heart for her King; gratitude and adoration for Jesus drew her to his side. God wants us to have this same intense passion in our hearts for Him. And just like Mary, we ought never to forget the pit of darkness Jesus pulled us out of because of His great mercy and love."

"Mary's passion turned into worship as she expressed her great love for Jesus by pouring out upon Him her most precious and costly possession, the fragrant oil, or spikenard. This precious oil was worth three hundred denarii, comparable to a year's wages today. However, Mary, broken, symbolically broke her alabaster box and released the costly oil. She ignored the offense taken by the others present and continued to convey her passion by worshipping at His feet, wiping them with her hair, and drenching Him in the valuable oil..."

Even though other people said: "Why this waste?" But Jesus said: "She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Matt. 26:8-13)

"I believe that there is a place of intimacy and abandonment in worship to God that we can touch Him in such a way as though we scar Him. It's as if when our true worship and passion touches Him, a seal comes upon His heart that causes Him to remember our worship: 'Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame' (Song. 8:6)."

Sometimes we might not realize or remember how much we love someone until our hearts were broken.

"True worship involves brokenness. It must kill us and bring a sense of humility into our body, soul and spirit. Remember, Mary has to break her alabaster box--symbolizing her brokenness and her death to self. The breakings of God release fragrant worship. If we're going to release the fragrant oil of worship, we must die every time we come into His presence. We become humbled under His mighty hand, broken inside, and our pride is overthrown. It was only after her alabaster box was broken that the oil could be poured out, releasing its fragrance. Listen! Even after Mary walked out of the house, there was still the lingering aroma--something had happened, someone touched God!"

The Holy Spirit knows that we love our Jesus deep down in our hearts. He is the only One who knows how to break our hearts in such a way that can release our true fragrant worship to God.

"Our hearts are just like the alabaster box containing precious treasure soaked in an exquisite fragrance. But we must allow the Holy Spirit to break our hearts His way, by His Spirit. He never damages our hearts; He breaks our hearts with a purpose, so that we can release our true fragrant worship to God. Brokenness helps us die to our inhibitions and ourselves; we can forget about ourselves and worship God with great freedom and abandonment. We can even become like Moses! When he descended the mountain after forty days of being in the glory of the Lord, he didn't even realize his face shone with the brightness of God's glory. In some Bible versions, it says that he lost sight of himself (Ex. 34:29)."

"I believe that brokenness and death to self not only release true worship, it also releases the glory of God to cover us."

Out of brokenness, there is beauty--the beauty of knowing God and His great mercy and love, the beauty of our passionate desire of pouring all our love on the Lord, and the beauty of God's glory falling on us as we worship Him with our kisses and anoint Him with costly fragrant oil.

"True worship to Jesus happens when we're so caught up entertaining the presence of the Lord that we forget about everything around us. We push in past any barriers that would try to keep us out of the Holy of Holies. We literally forget about everything, just like David did, and we give all that we are in worship to the Lord (2 Sam. 6:14)."

"It's all or nothing for God. Nothing should hinder our display of our love for Him, not people, not pride, not self-righteousness, or religious mindsets; He deserves all of our oil."

"True passion, true worship, and true intimacy release the fragrant oil of anointing and its exquisite lingering aroma. Remember your first love and remember where He found you. Allow the Holy Spirit to break and crush you. Give Him everything. Esteem Him with pure and holy incense. Pursue Him with true passion. Honor the worthy One. Drench His head and feet with the fragrant oil of worship."

--Excerpts from "The Fragrant Oil of Worship" by Todd Bentley, Destiny Prophetic Journal - Vol. 2 No. 1

May the fragrance of your worship delights the Lord, and awake the passion for the Lord in people's hearts.