Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Humbled


This picture is amazing to me and humbles me greatly. Does my sin bring me to my knees begging for the mercy of a holy God? Yes, I know I'm forgiven. Yes, I know that there is no condemnation now that I'm in Christ. BUT, there should have been a point when the weight of my sin had me crawling to the person of Christ. It should bring me there daily. I should never be so comfortable in my sin that I don't DAILY beg Him for His forgiveness, then PRAISE Him for the shame and guilt that He takes from me. I'm afraid as a society we have lost this. We don't want to be in a church that might make us think about sin, that doesn't make us feel all giddy and emotional inside, that might call a spade a spade. We have this "feel good" mentality. However, I urge you to hear me on this: When you experience freedom in Christ, when that weight of sin is lifted, and it is no more-THERE IS NO GREATER FEELING! We are so used to carrying around the burden of sin (b/c no one wants to offend us) that we don't know what it's like to be FREE. Yes, I will continue to sin because of this imperfect body but I don't want to CARRY it around. I want to LAY it down. Please, if there is something in my life that is hindering me, tell me. I want to be FREE!
In Luke 7, there is a familiar story of a woman, known as a sinner, who enters a Pharisee's home where Jesus was dining. WAIT! So, right there, this woman is SOOOO desperate to see Jesus that she, a KNOWN sinner, entered the home of a Pharisee. GUTS! She was serious about seeing Jesus. Am I that serious? When I know I have sin separating me from my Savior, will I set aside all pride to rush to Him? Then, she pours perfume on his feet. She DUMPS out her expensive perfume on Jesus. So, I have thought about that part when I've previously read that chapter. It was worth a lot, and she gives it up freely. That is definitely a lesson, in and of itself. But this summer in a Bible study, we were reading Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge. He made another point that I hadn't thought of. IF she was a known sinner, my guess is probably a prostitute (although I'm no Bible scholar). But, if she was, then perfume was probably a pretty important commodity for her business. She was essentially saying, "Jesus, I am giving my sin up for You. I am pouring it out on You. Take it from me." Mr. Eldredge pointed that out in his book, and I was like "WOW". Isn't it just like God to have a "sin offering" poured out on Jesus prior to going to the Cross. I LOVE it! He is so amazing!! Jesus, please never let me grow callous to my own sin, but convict me to pour it out to you. You already put it on you, but I want to give it to you too! I love you! There is no other God that would do that for me!!

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