By David ReayTuesday 18 Aug 2020LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” (NLT)
We sometimes hear of people coming to Jesus out of terrible hardship. True “gutter to glory” stories. Such people are often overwhelmingly grateful for what has happened. They show their gratitude freely. Much like the woman being talked about in this passage. One who had been shown love and grace in a life bereft of both.
This was the woman who lavished Jesus with tears and perfume, much to the disgust of the rather respectable dinner guests present. So deep was her gratitude that she couldn’t help but break up the dinner party.
Quite a contrast to those of us who have generally been respectable rebels against God. For sure we have strayed like lost sheep and we are grateful for grace and mercy shown by Jesus. But perhaps we are not aware of just how desperate was our plight. We may not be overwhelmed by our salvation because we don’t realise just how much we needed saving.
In order to embrace the amazing grace of God, we have to be conscious of how undeserving we are of it. This doesn’t mean self-hatred or morbid obsession with sin. It means we grasp both the holiness of God and our falling far short of it.
Only those who know how utterly lost they are will overflow with gratitude when they are found. Only those who realise the depths of their darkness will lavish praise on the one who leads them into light.
Blessings
David