When I was a teenager, one of my younger cousins, Michael, was diagnosed with leukemia. Like most cancer patients, he lost his hair during treatment. Michael was a surfer, and on the first day of his treatment all the other boys and their fathers from the surfing team showed up to support him. All of them had shaved their heads. Knowing they could never actually take his place and go through the discomfort of chemotherapy with him, they came as close as they could to his pain.
My cousin eventually recovered fully and is a grown man today. I have never forgotten this story. During Lent this year, it has come back to me again.
Giving up cake, television, or soda is small compared to the suffering of Jesus. Forgoing lunch, online shopping, or gourmet coffee is kind of like shaving your head for a very sick and scared friend; it pales in comparison.
But it is as close as some of us will ever get to knowing what it is like to choose to make ourselves uncomfortable for our Savior. If we choose carefully, our hearts will be so close they will know much more than just the loss of comfort. Up close to Jesus, we will know our true value.
Jesus once had a woman come and wash His feet with her tears, and then pour very expensive perfume on them. He said this to the people who criticized her passionate sacrifice:
“Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” -Luke 7:44-47
When we understand the cost of our forgiveness, there is little we will not be willing to live without to show our Savior our devotion.
Maybe this is not just about forty days. Maybe this is about all the days we have left. What do we hold onto that we will wish we had done without when we stand before God? Is it anger or perhaps self-pity? Has bitterness of soul or some shallow activity filled our hearts and homes so full that Jesus can’t find a place?
Maybe if we shave a little of the comfortable unholiness, we will better understand how much our lives cost God.
All I really want in life is for Jesus to point to me and say, “Do you see this woman? Her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much.”.
That’s it. That’s winning in life for me. Everything else can be shaved away.