Sunday, November 30, 2008

The sinful women


Luke 7:36-50 Jesus Anointed by a sinful women. These short 15 verses mean so much to me.


How hard it is, when we look at our lives and decide this is not how I thought it would all turn out. Guilt ,shame and despair set up shop in our hearts. We believe that we are no better than what we have become. What we have turned into. A shell of the person we know in our hearts we could have been. If only things had been different. If our home lives would have been better, if our husbands really showed us the affection we are longing. If only.

How did I get here? More importantly how do I make it stop? God, how do I make it all stop?

I can only imagine the way this sinful women felt when she was at the feet of Jesus. She treated Jesus like he was the only person in the room. It was just her, her sin, and Jesus. She must have been so fed up with her life that she didn't care who said what about her, or to her, she just knew she had to be in his presence. 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.

She was behind him weeping. How often do we stand behind Christ weeping at his feet because we are too ashamed to show our face? We are afraid that he won't accept us in the condition we have allowed oursleves to be in. We let that fear keep us from being in his presence. Christ will never turn away from us. It is we who turn away from him. Her tears must have been hundreds of gut wrenching tears. Not one time did Christ tell her to stop. He never told her what she was doing wasn't necessary. It is SO necessary. We must come to the father in complete surrender just the way we are at that exact moment. We must humble ourselves before him. He is the only one that can make the pain stop. It doesn't matter how long the pain has been there, or if you believe it's just to big, no one will understand. He understands and he wants to love you in spite of your sins. He just wants to be your father and show you how much love he has for you.

Jesus said to her, "your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace." How she must have felt after hearing those words. Only her father could forgive her and wash away her sins. She is now a new creature in Christ Jesus. She will still stumble, but she will not be shaken ,for she is in the presence of the great healer now and forever more.

1 comment:

Yoli said...

It's funny that I was thinking the same thing as I listened to Pastor Hal today and thought of the many times I have felt so ashamed for my sins that I could bare to face him and yet knowing that despite our ugliest of sins He still gently and loving calls out to us to come back to him.
I know that I love my God because of the shame I felt that I had let him down. It also made me realize that yes I am a sinner and am not worthy of His awesome love and yet I know when I humble myself before Him I am forgiven and loved. It is in those times that I have failed Him the most that I actually feel His love and His presense the most. Yoli