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10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. Luke 18:10-11 (NIV)
I have often read the story of the woman washing the feet of Jesus with her tears. I have never really thought much about the way in which this woman cried to produce enough tears that would enable her to wash his feet…until this last weekend. I was blessed to be part of a Kairos team that went into a prison to minister to the women who are there. As I prayed with one troubled woman, she began to sob almost uncontrollably. As the torrent of her tears poured onto my hands, I understood the gratitude that the woman who wept at Jesus’ feet felt. She would have been sobbing uncontrollably. What relief she must have experienced when Christ reached out, touched her, and healed her pain and hurt. I could see this on the face and demeanor of the woman with whom I prayed.
How many of us feel this type of gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? You know, sin is sin. There are no degrees or levels of sinfulness, even though we might like to believe that there are. We can become judgmental when it comes to sin and we may not see our sin as “bad” as that of another. Remember there are two types of sin. The sin in the things that we knowing do which are wrong (commission) such as stealing, murder, gossip, lying, pornography, etc, and the sin of not doing things that we should do (omission) not loving others as we love ourselves. When we think of our sinfulness, should we not also sob uncontrollably at the feet of Jesus out of gratitude for the gift of salvation that we received through his sacrifice on the cross?
Thankfully, when we take Holy Communion, we are able to repent of the sin within our lives, receive the forgiveness that we need, and be healed of any brokenness, hurt or pain that we have experienced. Lent is a time that we can do some evaluation within our lives. What will you find? Are there some changes you need to make in your life? Will you discover some sin of omission? What about sin of commission? I pray that you will have an opportunity to take Holy Communion at some point during Lent.
Precious Lord, thank you for your death upon the cross so that I may live. Forgive me for not loving you as I should through my failure to love others as myself. Amen |
Diane's Blog