Lenten Devotion for April 11, 2014

Read John 12:1-11

Mary anoints Jesus feet with expensive perfume and wipes it with her hair. Judas Iscariot scoffs and says it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus states that Mary is preparing his body for burial and that they will not always have him around.

Supplies: small jars with lids, (like baby jars) using a nail and hammer, make holes in the lids of the jars.
Cotton balls
Products that have a strong smell, like coffee, vanilla, bleach, oils, perfume, spices, etc.

In advance: Poke holes in the lids of the jars and number them. You can have as many jars as you want, but have at least three. Place the cotton balls in the jars with a liquid, like bleach, vanilla, perfumes or oils. If you have other products that would be easy to detect if you can see them, but sure to wrap the jar up so they can’t see what it is.
(like spices, or coffee grounds)

Big Idea: Each family member gets an opportunity to smell each jar and write down what they think it is. (or tell a parent)
You can ask, “Were all the smells good?”
When Mary poured the perfume on Jesus feet, it must have filled the room with an aroma that everyone would have known.

Activity: Jesus wants us to be like a wonderful amazing perfume for him and to others we meet. We want to “smell” like a sweet fragrance to God and to our friends and family.
Smells can trigger all sorts of memories for us, good and bad. When we smell bread baking or brownies, what happens, we feel hungry and it smells so good. That is what God desires of us, that we be like that strong fragrance.

Another way to think about it is to think of making coffee.

First, we need God, God is the power. (Turn on the coffee pot)

Second, we need to be open to God’s power. We need to be obedient so that God will be working in us. (Flip the power switch)

Third, we need to have Jesus in our lives, in our heart. (Put the coffee in the filter)
Fourth, God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us live like Jesus and to make our lives a witness to Christ. (Pour the water into the coffee machine so that it will run through the coffee grounds and filter.)

Fifth, the carafe is the world. When God is the power in our life, and when we are obedient and have Jesus in our hearts, and we add the work of the Holy Spirit, then we can be the fragrance of Christ in the world.

(you can also offer a milk, coffee drink, or coffee ice cream instead, be creative)

We pray: Thank you father that we can be your fragrance and light to the world. Help us to smell good and be a nice reminder to those we meet.