Gospel Bits - iSinner

Some people spring out of bed. For many others (including myself) starting the day isn't always easy because it means facing the challenges & problems of the day. How could we view this feeling? There's one word that immediately comes to my mind.

We're just not grateful toward God like we should be. Christians, most especially, have reason to be grateful. For what? Our salvation.

Luke 7:36-50 tells us that one day, the Lord Jesus was invited for lunch at a Pharisees' home. Then a sinful woman came in (probably an adulterer, but we're not sure) and 

brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

 The Pharisee was repulsed by her mere presence, and probably thought that her display of reverence and love for Jesus was excessive and distasteful. But Jesus asked him, 

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”

What was Jesus' point? In a nutshell, the Pharisee treated the Lord poorly because he didn't realize how great a sinner he was, and how much he needed the Lord to be his Savior. In contrast, the woman acknowledged her sinfulness and found salvation in the Lord. She saw her salvation as something immeasurably precious because she knew her sins were immeasurably offensive to God. That's why she wasn't ashamed to do what she did for Christ.

There are two ironies in this scene. First, the moralistic Pharisee failed to obtain salvation in Christ because he didn't think he needed it, while the sinful woman did obtain salvation. Second, the woman who was weeping out of shame and sorrow for her sin, was also the one with true joy and peace, because as ashamed as she was, she knew that she had found her Savior.

Christians ought to be a grateful and joyful people, because we are great sinners who have received a great salvation from a great Savior. You and I, we don't deserve to be alive, serving the Lord on earth. We didn't deserve to wake up today, and we don't deserve to wake up tomorrow.

I hope this helps us squelch our tendency to grumble and to enjoy the life that God has called us to! Personally, I'm resolved to remind myself everyday how great a sinner I am, and what a great Savior my Lord Jesus is!