A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (July 30, 2018)
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 loveth little. (Luke 7:46-47)
In one of our previous devotionals entitled “Salvation Belongeth to the Lord” we asked a very important question about whether or not you would have chosen some of the people that God chose as His leaders. Would you have chosen Moses who was a murderer? Would you have chosen a Samaritan woman that had been divorced five times and used her to initiate a revival in her city? Would you have chosen a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus (Paul), that persecuted the followers of Jesus, to be an Apostle to the Gentiles? These were all sinners, but God chose them anyway. Why would He do such a thing? Didn’t He know they were morally unfit?
Moral high-mindedness has not changed in 2000 years. The Pharisees at the time of Jesus are still alive today. They think a person that has been in prison, or a person that has lived a life of sin, is not fit or morally qualified to hold any type of important office or job. Guess what? God doesn’t look at it like that!!
I personally think that one of the keys to God’s thinking is contained in our daily scripture. God is a God of multiple chances. He looks at the heart and not the outward appearance of someone’s criminal record or their life of sin. He does not want any to perish and He knows that the one that is forgiven much will love much. The Apostle Paul is a great example of that. Paul was a hard charging Pharisee that did everything he could to persecute and make life miserable for Christians. But when he was converted, when he met Jesus, he was changed completely.
The first principle we need to learn from this is to not judge. A good example of this is the story of the woman caught in adultery:
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:3-11)
What we see here is a woman that was forgiven much. I believe she left that place a totally different woman and a servant and lover of God. People that brand others as morally unqualified could very well be fighting against one of God’s future servants. The Pharisees are of the persuasion “once a sinner, always a sinner”. That’s not biblical! A former sinner can be a powerful tool for God. They know what they have done and they are very appreciative of another chance. In many cases, they knew from early childhood that they were called by God and they ran from it all their life. Also, these people know first hand how the world of sin operates. In other words, they have inside information. God is no fool. He uses this to His advantage to get things done that otherwise would never get done.
The second principle we need to see is that God’s ways are not our ways. He chooses people we would never choose. A great example is when Isaiah prophesied about a pagan king named Cyrus that did not know God, but was chosen and used mightily by God to rebuild Jerusalem (Isaiah 45:1-5). Listen to what God said about Cyrus in Isaiah 44:
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer and Creator: “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools. But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’ When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry. When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd (my ruler, companion, friend),’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’” (Isaiah 44:24-28, NLT)
It was all about Israel in the case of King Cyrus. Guess what? It still is!
WARNING!!! We need to be very careful how we judge and brand people because we may very well be judging one of God’s servants.
