Make your Mark

When I say the following names what do you think of?

- Thomas Edison - Adam and Eve - Albert Einstein - King Solomon - Jesus Christ

Often times our lives are summed up in a single word, phrase, or sentence:
“He did evil in the eyes of the Lord” “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”

How will God sum up your life? What will you do with the time God has given you?

Mark 14:1-9 - Let’s use this situation as a blueprint for making a mark that lasts.
Gleaned from this passage I see 5 truths to make a lasting mark.

1. v.3 - It’s going to cost you. (Very expensive perfume)

a. Are you willing to pay the price? - Luke 14:28-33
b. Often hard work and preparation is involved - This woman had to get together a year’s worth of
wages to buy the alabaster jar. Thomas Edison, considered one of the most prolific inventors in
history, holds 1,093 U.S. patents. He said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is
dressed in overalls and looks like work.” He said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-
nine percent perspiration.” He boiled it down to this, “The three things that are most essential to
achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness”.

2. v.3 - You’re going to have to pick a target. (Could’ve given the money to the poor)
a. Acts 6:4 - Don’t make the target abstract, like “I want to change the world”. Talk about my own.
b. Acts 6:1-4 - That means other targets need to be neglected.

3. v.3 - You’re going to have to get out and actually DO SOMETHING. (Jar useless if sitting at home)
a. Matthew 14:25-29 - Peter had to step out of the boat before he could walk on water - couldn’t
just talk about it.
b. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - Not all work is equal. Edison said, “Being busy does not always mean
real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends
there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as
perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

4. v.4-5 - You’re going to face opposition. (They rebuked her harshly)

a. Nehemiah 4:1-3 - People might think you’re being foolish, and they’ll try to stop you. Mediocre
minds shun anyone who tries to be excellent.
b. Nehemiah 4:6-8, 16-17 - often opposition becomes fiercest when the mark is about to be made.
The woman received her greatest opposition just as she was beginning to pour out her perfume -
all the time it sat in her house the opposition was less, but when the mark was about to be made
the opposition arose.

5. v.6 - It must be done with a pure motive. (She has done a beautiful thing to me)
If Adam and Eve had checked their motive for wanting to eat the fruit, the results might have
been different.
a. Mark 14:6 - When your mark is done with a pure motive, Jesus partners with it! (Why are you
bothering her?)
b. John 5:39-40 - Any eternal mark can only come when we fix our eyes on Jesus. (Peter walked
as long as he fixed his eyes on Jesus, the woman’s story is always told because she focused on
Jesus)
c. Luke 11:43-44 - Because the Pharisees missed this most important point (pure motive to do a
beautiful thing for Jesus) they never left an eternal mark that is pleasing to God. Instead they are
like unmarked graves.