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| (whatthenwhynow.org) |
When I’m
reading a book, I ponder why the author phrased things the way they did. I challenge
the ideas I meet; I question the authority with which they write. But because I’d
have worded something differently, doesn’t mean I don’t totally love what they’re
saying.
Sometimes I
read a book where I think, this author gets me! It’s exciting to meet someone
through their writing. I begin to feel like I know them. I hope you all get to
know me a bit, too, when you read what I write. I hope you ponder what I share
and find what’s in it for you, perhaps a completely different take-away.
When I find
nuggets I have to share, they aren’t chicken nuggets, they’re golden nuggets
that excite my heart and overwhelm my mind, sometimes to the point that I can’t
successfully express myself.
Here’s one
of those nuggets:
“Jesus
wants to move our focus from the sin to the forgiveness.” – Uncommon Questions
from an Extraordinary Savior, by Christopher Bozung.
The quote
comes from chapter seven, exploring the love and gratefulness that pours from a
woman’s tear-filled eyes as she washes and anoints the feet of Jesus. An
onlooker, the host of the gathering, a man named Simon, sits there, judging.
But Jesus sees everything in his heart.
Jesus sees
everything in our heart, too. He sees when my eyebrows rise when a
woman walks into the church showing waaaaaay too much cleavage or way too much
thigh. I have to mentally smack myself for judging her, and try to do it without
attaching my excuses, like, “But, Lord, who does she think she’s impressing?
You or everyone looking at her?”
I know my heart;
I don’t know hers.
God knows and loves us both.
Whether her dress is a bad example
for younger girls, or a temptation for most of the men around us, I cannot let
myself fall into the trap of judging her. God will change her from the inside
out. Buying less sexy dresses may come someday. Her heart loving Him – that’s
HUGE! And, I’ll bet she’ll be just as eye catching in appropriate clothing. And
I may need to mentally smack myself for feeling jealously over that, too!
I think my
favorite line in the chapter is, “A sinner touching Jesus!”
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| (SaintLaika.com) |
I feel the
same sweet release I used to feel every time I sang the Ray Boltz song, “Touching Him” in church. Unworthy made worthy. Sinfulness made sinless. Filthy made
clean. My heart fully exposed before my loving, gracious, merciful God –
joyfully set free from all condemnation. How can I not cry!?
On a side note,
I wonder if the woman in the story is the woman who was thrown at Jesus’s feet,
shamed; caught in adultery. She dared not look up at His face, but she watched His dusty feet, waiting for condemnation that never came. She didn’t try to
defend herself, or justify her sin as we might, she fell apart over His
forgiveness and returned later to wash those same feet with her tears.
