Ok, I finally have enough time to explain the significant meaning of "pure nard". I'll try to keep it as concise as possible, because there's a lot to explain.
Here's little background information. Every summer, about 5 Chinese churches and 250 kids get together for the super-duper-mega-awesome Camp Impact. It's a four day retreat where we grow closer to God and have lots of fun at the same time. Two different churches alternate who leads worship, but the problem was that the youth worship team started preparing pretty late. We just started picking out our songs 3 weeks beforehand, and from prior experience 3 weeks is definitely NOT enough time to get everything down smoothly. I was really worried about how we were going to sound.
After 3 weeks of practice, the team was actually sounding pretty great. Both churches got together a day before camp started for one last session. Before actually picking up the instruments, we dwelled in the Bible for a little bit, and this is where pure nard comes in. We were studying Mary and Martha, two sisters who welcomed Jesus into their home. All Mary did was sit listen to Jesus speak, and Martha got angry since she was doing all the preparations by herself. Jesus told Martha that she shouldn't be bothered by such things, for Mary chose the right thing to do. Mary also anointed Jesus with very costly perfume of
pure nard, and the house filled with the fragrance. The disciples thought this was a waste, for it could have been sold for lots of money to give to the poor. However, Jesus said that what Mary did was good, for the poor will always be around, but He will not.
Wow. Really powerful words. The message hit me loud and clear. I was like Martha, who was focused on the preparations for Jesus, when I should have been more like Mary, who was focused on Jesus himself. When the worship team leads worship, our praises should be just like the pure nard filling the house with sweet fragrance. In many ways Camp Impact is just like pure nard. We spend 4 days, away from home, to grow closer to God. Sure, we could be spending these 4 days at home studying, working, volunteering, or playing, but such an opportunity to get completely free from all distractions of school and parents to focus solely on God comes only a couple times a year. Time to work, study, or play will always be around, but time free of distractions like Camp Impact is few and far between, and this rare opportunity should not be wasted.
So why do I post this now? Christmas pageant is coming up, and I'm serving on the orchestra, but I just need to have the right heart. It's a little hard focusing on God, with school and college apps on my mind and the music is pretty hard, but I must remember why I'm there. Reminder to self, this is NOT for padding on college apps, and I should NOT be focusing on the difficulty of playing the notes, but I should focus on God and His glory, and not of myself.
You wanted deep, and you got it. To recap, the meaning behind pure nard is that pure nard represents how our focus and attitude should be to God on everything, and not be distracted by the task itself. It can also be related to time. When there's an opportunity where it's just you and God, know that this time is well worth it, and well spent. It's
defintely held true for me.
posted by justin at 11:35 PM
