Scripture
Luke 7:44-48
44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Observation
Jesus loved to flip the script on the Pharisees! They ruled through formulas, rule lists, and detailed commands…and, of course, all of the loopholes that they could get away with.
This woman was different. She wasn’t following the rules, she wasn’t toeing the line on the holy formula that the Pharisees had written: She simply loved. She loved Jesus enough to anoint him with her tears and with her costly possessions. She loved him enough to make a spectacle of herself. She loved him enough to intrude where she wasn’t wanted, in order to demonstrate her love for the Savior.
Jesus said that her sins were forgiven–not because she followed the formula or expectations of those around her, but because she lived out a real, honest, genuine love for God.
Application
What defines my walk with God? Is it the formula? My daily and weekly habits, the rules to which I hold myself, the religious expectations of those around me…they all may possibly have a place, but those are just the formula.
What defines my walk with God? Is it the clothes I wear, and the vocabulary I speak with?
I choose today to live for God not by a formula or rule book, but with raw, genuine love which makes me willing to be unpopular, willing to be a spectacle, willing to be criticized–and willing to live out my love through action.
Prayer
God, I want you to know and feel my love for you! In the way that I live, speak, and act, may you see evidence of my love for you. You have shown your great love for me–I want you to know how much I love you.
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