love knows no expense

I once learned that it wasn’t how much money you made, but how much you took home.  A quick life lesson after getting my first paycheck, let’s see 40 hours x $1.60/hour=$64.00.  And man I was rich, but how come my check only said $58.00?  Was I robbed?  No taxes kicked in-no one had warned me.  And so I recalculated and found I was only making $1.45/hour, and suddenly I didn’t want to work so hard, or I felt underpaid.  Who wasn’t or isn’t?  But then I learned it was what you did with the money you earned, and while Brennan bought clothes, and partied hearty, I saved mine, and soon had enough with money from my paper route to buy the Honda 350.  And suddenly all the hard work was worth it.  But soon it led to the BMW R60/5, which got hit and totaled, then a 1974 R90/6, which lasted for four days, until a drunk driver hit me, leaving me to die along the side of the road, but God’s grace was at work even then, although I wasn’t saved, and soon was able to walk again, but no more R90/6.  Totaled again.  All before I was 21.  But then there was this R90S, the flagship of BMW, only a few available, and super expensive.  Honda 750’s were still around $1500, a Z-1 would set you back around $1900, while the S was $3430!  I could buy two for one if I passed on the S.  But I learned that love knows no expense, and the S it was.  Much criticism came my way, I paid too much, it isn’t worth it, or I could have had two bikes for what I paid-you were robbed.  And then I was told I was a rich snob, yeah right, and many words were thrown  my way, interpreted as jealousy.  I had one, they didn’t, so there must be something wrong with me.  So cut me down, just down race me. 

But what seemed like a lot of 1974 cash, paid off, when I put over 16,000 miles on it in 4 months.  And it was the bike that I rode to New Mexico after I was saved, leaving the friendly confines of New Jersey.  Makes you wonder just how bad the old Jersey was.  But at 40,000 miles, the bike had come between God and me, and I sold it-too much pride.  And was humbled, selling it to a girl, and taking a 1974 TX 500 Yamaha in trade.  A bike so bad I almost swore off Yamahas forever-or at least until the FJ1100 came around.  But the same bike I had bought, or overbought as my critics reminded me, I had bought for love, and enjoyed for love.  It was worth it, and the critics would never get it.  I worshipped that bike, until Jesus came into my life.  But He still gave me the passion to ride, just a lesser bike.  And the critics again criticized my choice.  But to God it was a form of worship, I gave up something of myself to gain so much more.

Mary, sister of Martha knew all about criticism, but also about worship.  Right in front of God and everyone, she poured a years worth of pricey ointment on the feet of Jesus, worshipping Him as He had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  And she did it publicly, not caring about the expense, doing it in a room where women were not generally welcome, and letting her hair down in public-another social no-no, all in worship of her Lord Jesus Christ.  A gift that no one but her and Jesus knew the real value of, a public confession of who Jesus is, and true worship-the sacrificing of herself and something valuable, drawing her even closer to God.    Expressions of love, gratitude, and worship and praise-love knows no expense.  And later Jesus would prove that even more on the cross, dying for a world that lived in sin and hated Him. A form of worship we overlook, His worshipping His Father while on the cross, to draw us back to Him.  And suddenly the critics grow silent, as those who are saved now get the benefit of His sacrifice.  And Mary’s afternoon of priceless ointment now becomes priceless in terms of worship.

That same love that showed no expense can be given to others today.  Scripture tells us that “as we go,” a perfect tense meaning as we go, that we are to make disciples of men.  Telling how Jesus gave of Himself, and sharing how when we give of ourselves how our lives change.  Mary’s did that afternoon, mine did with the R90S.  I enjoyed it, but when I let it go, and gained Christ, then its value went up.  And many more bikes were to follow as I followed Jesus.  Worship is more than music, it is more than praying.  It is letting Jesus Christ show in your life, it is giving up valuables and gaining values.  It is as you go bearing witness of Him.  For Mary it was perfume, for me a motorcycle.  What will it be for you?  Love knows no expense, God gave His son.  The admission price to heaven is paid.  But you need to leave something to gain it-what will you give up so you can pick up your cross and follow Him?  For like my first paycheck, it isn’t what you earn, it is what you take home.  Heaven is home.  And it is what you do with what you God has given you that brings that value.  By the way, the current book value of a 1974 R90S is over $10,000.  Even at today’s prices a bargain for what God has given me.  Mary got I, I got it, will you?  It is still not how much you earned, but what you take home.

love with compassion,

Mike

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