Faith and Forgiveness

“Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and 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.” Luke 7:36-39

This story never gets old. In fact no stories in the Bible get old. That is the way it is with good books, you never get sick of them. The best part of the Bible is that it is real!

What I love about this story is that this woman saw something in Jesus that maybe even she did not quite understand, but she was drawn to him. She had faith in him. She risked more heartbreak and judgment that had surrounded her for so long by the rest of the world. Yet, she knew something was different about Christ, and she put her full trust in him.
He knows her, every detail of her life, from the day she was born..and yet he loves her. Knowing everything about her, he looks at her with kind gentle eyes and forgives her, frees her from her bondage of sin!

"Therefore, I tell you her many sins have been forgiven-as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."- Luke 7:47

I cannot wait to meet Christ! To see my Lord face to face, to kiss him, to be held in his embrace. Yet in this mortal world I hold back. I have been forgiven for all I have done and will do to sin against my Savior. But too often I take that for granted. I do not rely and trust in him alone. It is not an easy world we live in, but that is no excuse. I am not ridiculed daily, like I am sure that woman was, I can tuck myself away and not be even noticed if I want. Her whole life was exposed, and daily she was judged. Yet, she risked coming to Christ, having complete faith in him, loving him, hoping he would forgive her, and show her mercy.
I want to have faith like this woman. To have complete trust Christ, to not be ashamed to admit I am a sinner and that Christ is my only hope. The problem with us is that we live and love the world too much, and live for and love Christ too little.
Soon this world will be gone. This seeming hard life in the harsh world I live will be gone, and none of what I worry about will matter. I will be able to be with Christ, to kiss his feet and cry for joy when I look into his eyes. Nothing will be better than that.