Today’s devotional in the Love Expressed Series is about forgiveness and having
a grateful heart.
In
Luke 7:37-38 we hear the story of a woman in that town who lived a sinful life that
learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with
an alabaster jar of perfume. As she
stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
This woman’s worship of Jesus was at a great cost to her.
It cost her expensive vial of perfume, and the humility to kiss, wash, and dry
the dirty feet of the Lord Jesus. But there was a higher price than this paid
by the woman. In my opinion, the greatest price which she paid was facing the
scorn and rejection of the self-righteous Pharisees and other dinner guests at
that meal.
What love! What gratitude! What boldness to walk right in
where she knew people knew all about her past, but her gratitude forced her to
subject herself to their ridicule just so she could see Jesus…so she could
honor the One who had changed her life.
When Jesus speaks to the woman in the final verses of our
passage, He now makes clear to her the basis for her forgiveness: “Your faith
has saved you; go in peace”.
We ought to welcome sinners, if they acknowledge
themselves as sinners, and if they seek to be saved from their sins. All too
often, sinners are shunned by the church, more than they are sought be it. May
we learn from our Lord to be more like Him and less like the Pharisee Simon who
judged this woman.
Religious people may have marginalized you; church people
may make you uncomfortable, but let me assure you of this—you will find
everything you’ve been longing for in life in the arms of Jesus. He will
forgive you. He will wipe your tears, and give you a confidence to live the
life He has given you with no concern for what others have to say about your
past.
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