We were looking at the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus with very expensive perfume, and looking at the reaction of Judas.

John 12:4-6

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,

5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?"

6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.

This is where the road to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus begins, with pilfering from the money box. Judas did not completely trust in the Lord! He was trying to build up a reserve account, or a backup plan just in case things didn’t go Judas’ way! He was putting his faith in what he could accomplish himself. You’ve seen this verse before:

Matthew 6:19

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

This is exactly what Judas was doing – storing up treasures for himself on earth. Remember this – Judas was there when Jesus spoke these words! He heard them; he just didn’t believe them. Instead of believing what Jesus had said, Judas was storing up a reserve. This was a demonstration of a lack of faith and dependence on God. This led to the inevitable result:

Matthew 6:21

21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Can’t you just see Judas? He was chosen out of all the students following Jesus to be one of the chosen 12. Then he was chosen out of the 12 to be the treasurer! So when he sees Mary’s fabulous act of worship, he has an arrogant reaction. He says, “surely I would know a better way to handle this money!” When you start down that road of arrogance, it leads to a lack of trust in the Lord and in the truth of His Word.

What about you? Are you going to trust in the promises of God? Or are you going to just kind of trust them, and store up a reserve account just in case it doesn’t work out? I believe that God demands complete and total trust, and nothing less. And a failure to trust in the Word of God is a failure to trust in God Himself. Do you not believe Him? When you don’t trust Him, you are, in a very subtle way, calling Him a liar.

This arrogant disciple believes it’s all about what he can do himself. He has a plan; he has a backup reserve. He simply doesn’t trust in the veracity of what the Lord says.

Don’t be the kind of believer that sort of believes the promises that God has made. If God says He will do it, then He will do it! He has made us these promises for our benefit – the benefit comes when we have faith in them, and live our lives in confidence.