By Rob Bailes"Your Faith Will Change You"
Have you ever had someone warn you of something and you thought to yourself, "I'm not so sure about that", only to find out later that they were right?
It is at the moment that we realize that something is for real and we know without a doubt that what we have heard is true, that faith takes seed in our hearts, our minds and our body! It's at that moment that we also find ourselves moving into action, as the situation becomes more clear.
Jesus gives us an example about the man that digs deep and lays his foundation on the rock so that his house will stand when the water beats against the house. Jesus was referring to the man that will listen to what He tells him and then "do" what he has heard. It is through the believing of something that we experience faith and this faith will cause us to act accordingly. Right now, what I want you to concentrate on is what you believe! Take all other thoughts and interruptions and leave them in the next room. I want you to focus your full attention for the next ten minutes on what you believe and look at how it has changed your life. Ready?
It is simple to say we believe in something, but it is different to believe in it so much that we have faith in something. We use the words faith, believe, commit and dedication so casual in our day, that we often miss what it really means, but I find that the parables and experiences of Jesus actually take us to a level of understanding where we receive wisdom and knowledge that we can apply to each of our lives. "Faith Doesn't Doubt!" There seems to be allot of confusion about this simple, yet profound statement today.
I hear people say so casually, "I believe in God,but...this or that" and people say, "I have faith, but I think there's a limit to how far you should go with it!". Another one I have heard is, "I asked God to save me, but I never did do anything really bad".
It is good for us to take time to look into the parables and teachings of Jesus, as this will tell us what we need to build ourselves a solid foundation. Jesus teaches all of us that the first thing we need to do in laying our firm foundation is to believe without a doubt, have faith. Let's all take a few minutes to look at a time when Jesus had been performing miracles and He was invited to the home of a Pharisee to dine. Jesus had accepted the invitation and had been teaching and performing miracles, so I'm sure that there was quite a crowd gathered around this man's house just waiting for Jesus to reappear and continue showing His miraculous power and pouring out His compassion on them. Somehow though, a woman had slipped into the house where Jesus had taken His seat on the couch, which was a Jewish custom. The Jews would eat while laying on their side and their knees bent with their feet behind them.
I can imagine this woman showing herself at the doorway and Jesus motioning for her to come in and join them. Perhaps the Pharisee had gone to check on the food or may have been inviting some of the others that were his friends, as we see later that there were others at this meal. None the less, the woman who is not ever named, enters the room. She has been listening to Jesus teaching and has seen His miracles performed and has come to the realization that this must be who they say He is; the Messiah, sent by God to save His people from their sin. She stands behind Him now, maybe trying to control herself, but it is impossible! The tears are flowing uncontrollably as she stands at His feet! She wipes her eyes and sees that she has soaked His feet with her tears and kneels to wipe the wet dust from His feet with her most adorned apparel, her hair. She continues to cry as she thinks about her past and how many times she has felt the guilt of her sins; avoiding conversation with those who would dare to mention God or anything related to worship. This would normally have only made her feel worse about herself and the life she had chosen to live long ago. Now though, she was sitting at the feet of this One they called the Messiah, the Savior of His people! At His feet, where typically the servants would stay, she began to clean His feet with her hair and her tears. As she washed them she also began to kiss His feet, which was an act of adoration and respect for Jesus. But she didn't just kiss them once, but over and over again in love for her new found Lord! She felt so blessed to be able to show Him her love and belief in Him in such a way as this.
Then she took out the alabaster container of ointment, a bottle of perfume; a perfume that some theologians believe she had used to attract the attention of others and most likely her most treasured possession. Ointment was a very expensive product in this day and was used much like our cologne and deodorant today. You see, the Greek translation for the word that describes her as a sinner means one living in sin or a whore. Now how do we feel about this whole picture? What would we have been thinking if we had been sitting in that room, knowing that she had this reputation?
Wait! Let's bring it up to our day and time! Ok? What if she was a woman who was known as a Playboy centerfold and stripper who had been on public TV and the latest Yahoo News sites all over the world? Now, how does that make us feel? Maybe we can understand a little better about what happens next!
The Pharisee, whose name was Simon, was thinking within himself,"If this man was a prophet, he would have know what kind of woman was touching Him and that she was a sinner (whore)". That's when Jesus shared something with Simon. Jesus asked him,"If one man owed $50 and another man owed $500 and they didn't have anything to pay and the creditor told them that he wasn't going to make them pay. Which one of the men would love him more?". Simon answered and said that he supposed that the one that owed the creditor more money. Then Jesus told him that he had judge right!
Then Jesus told Simon to look at the woman, but Jesus also looked at her according to this passage. Jesus had no problem giving her His attention because he saw her through different eyes; eyes that didn't judge her. Jesus told him, "See thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gave me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.
In Simon's eyes, he had few sins and so he had little love for the Lord. Do you think that if we believe this about ourselves, it will also have an impact on how much we love our Savior. If Jesus walked into the room right now, how would you honestly react? Would you drop to your knees? Would you just stare at Him in amazement and wait for Him to recognize YOU? Do we think that we are going to be His focus when we get to heaven? Are we really that great in our own eyes? I hear this dangerous doctrine taught all across America today and it is teaching people to love God less, just as we see in the house of the Pharisee with Jesus! "How are we to feel the love that this woman had for Jesus?", you may be ask, just as I did when I first read this passage.
We must look hard and long at what we believe! This passage has brought me to realize two very important things. I took the time to search my heart and see the way that I saw myself and what I believed about my past and what God had done for me. This brought me to a deeper appreciation of what Jesus meant to me as He was the one who forgave us all as He hung on the cross. he forgave us even before this, just as He had forgiven the woman that day so long ago for all of her past sins and lifestyle that had given such a bad name. Let's look at what Jesus says,
Luke 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
But why did Jesus make mention of this? I believe that He was making a point to each of those sitting at the table that day and to each of us reading this lesson today. Jesus knew that the question would come up in their hearts, "Who is this that forgives sins also?". This has become the question of the century by many a Muslim and other religions across the world and many of them deny it! They can't believe that a man named Jesus can pardon the sins of wicked men!
I believe what Jesus says next will clear this up for us all!
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
It was the sincere belief in God and the message of the Messiah Jesus that cause this woman to change and her faith was made alive and that seed of faith which had been dead began to grow in her heart, her mind and then was evident in her body. She changed the way she felt; she changed the way she thought and she changed the way she loved! She went from doubting, bondage and oppression to having faith, pardoned and peace. Let's take a final look at the word "peace" in the Greek translation used here.
The Greek word is eirēnē
It is pronounced i-rah'-nay
Probably from a primary verb εἴρω eirō (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.
Let's take a few minutes to kneel at Jesus feet and adore Him as we grasp the fact that He has forgiven ALL of our sins! Let's love Him more and more each day!
"Thy faith has saved you; go in peace."
No comments:
Post a Comment