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she brought was very costly. She did not use just a little of this
precious nard, but poured it all out on the head and feet of Jesus.
"What she could" was the best she had to give.

We may take a lesson. Do we always give our best to Christ? He gave
his best for us, and is ever giving his best to us. Do we not too
often give him only what is left after we have served ourselves? Then
we try to soothe an uneasy conscience by quoting the Master's
commendation of Mary, "She hath done what she could." Ah, Mary's "what
she could" was a most costly service. It was the costliest of all her
possessions that she gave. The word of Jesus about her and her gift
has no possible comfort for us if our little is not our best. The
widow's mites were her best, small though the money value was--she gave
all she had. The poor woman's cup of cold water was all she could
give. But if we give only a trifle out of our abundance, we are not
doing what we could.

It is worthy of notice that the alabaster box itself was broken in this
holy service. Nothing was kept back. Broken things have an important
place in the Bible. Gideon's pitchers were broken as his men revealed
themselves to the enemy. Paul and his companions escaped from the sea
on broken pieces of the ship. It is the broken heart that God accepts.
The body of Jesus was broken that it might become bread of life for the
world. Out of sorrow's broken things God builds up radiant beauty.
Broken earthly hopes become ofttimes the beginnings of richest heavenly
blessings. We do not get the best out of anything until it is broken.

"They tell me I must bruise
The rose's leaf
Ere I can keep and use
Its fragrance brief.

They tell me I must break
The skylark's heart
Ere her cage song will make
The silence start.

They tell me love must bleed,
And friendship weep,
Ere in my deepest need
I touch that deep.

Must it be always so
With precious things?
Must they be bruised, and go
With beaten wings?

Ah, yes! By crushing days,
By caging nights, by scar
Of thorns and stony ways,
These blessings are."

Even sorrow is not too great a price to pay for the blessings which can
come only through grief and pain. We must not be afraid to be broken
if that is God's will; that is the way God would make us vessels meet
for his service. Only by breaking the alabaster vase can the ointment
that is in it give o