WHY IS MY LOVE FOR GOD GROWING COLD?

Luke 7:47 (GNT)              

I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.

Have you ever had that one friend who is always finding a new way to show appreciation for something you are even shy to talk about because to you, it was no big deal? For example, that friend needed one hundred Ghana cedis badly and you, at the moment he/she was asking, had ten thousand Ghana cedis so giving that one hundred Ghana cedis meant nothing to you. Yet for some strange reason, that friend is so touched about that kind gesture that each time he/she meets you, he/she wants everyone to know what you did and how he/she appreciates it. It may not have been money; it could have been that clothing or gadget you didn’t want or thought was useless. To you it was nothing, yet it meant the world to him/her. And to show his/her appreciation, he/she keeps saying it every time and everywhere. 

The truth is, the value of a gift is not determined by the giver but by the recipient. How he/she reacts shows how grateful or ungrateful he/she is for that particular gift or kind gesture.  And that is the case of this woman who had come to meet Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). 

The first thing you should know about this woman and this man is that the woman was a known sinner in the city and the man a reputable servant of God in that same city. That is, she was known in the whole of Accra or Tema or Takoradi or Kumasi as a sinner. I mean, every single person – baby, boy, girl, woman, man, grandpa and grandma – knew about her and her licentious activities. She was a “famous sinner”. And this famous sinner had the audacity to enter the house of an eminent and esteemed Man of God in that same city who was hosting Jesus. 

According to the passage, this “famous sinner” came into the house holding an alabaster box of ointment - the modern equivalent of the most expensive perfume. When she got into the house of Simon the Pharisee, she knelt behind Jesus at his feet, weeping, with her tears falling down upon his feet; and she wiped them off with her hair. She kissed his feet and then poured the perfume on them. While this was going on, Simon the Pharisee made this strong statement to the hearing of all present, “This proves that Jesus is no prophet, for if God had really sent Him, He would know what kind of woman this one is!” If Simon the Pharisee had known that Jesus was sent by God to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), he wouldn’t have made that irrational statement. But reading the passage and knowing Jesus, He had the right response to keep Simon the Pharisee thinking. According to Jesus, the very things the “famous sinner” did to Him the time she had the opportunity to meet Him were the exact things Simon the Pharisee refused to do to Him when He entered his house though it was customary.

This clearly represents two types of Christians: the one who had to find Jesus, and the one who had Jesus all along. 

Most of the Christians we see today who are zealously worshipping the Lord in truth like they have no other option(s) are those who had tried it all. They thought happiness was in a fat bank account, highest academic achievement, luxurious properties, a green alcoholic bottle, the ends of a wrapped paper, between the legs of a woman, watching naked bodies, stealing the hard sweat of others, killing, among many others. At their darkest moment when they thought all was lost, they heard of Jesus. They did all they could to meet Him. And when they did, like the “famous sinner”, they gave their all to show their appreciation to this wonderful man who also gave up everything to reconcile them with their Heavenly Father.

The other Christian who had Jesus all along is the one who may have been introduced to God and church activities very early. He/she may have had Christian parents or siblings or relatives who made it difficult to miss a church meeting or a Christian gathering. Like Simon the Pharisee, most of these people haven’t yet found the value of Jesus in their lives. To him/her, Jesus is like any other prophet/guest and must be treated as such. To him/her, getting Jesus to come around is no big deal so why make a special occasion out of it. And to these people, Jesus says, “I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”

In other words, how our love for God or our worship grows cold or remains constant is dependent on how big/small we saw our sins when we met Jesus. 

For Christians who were like the "famous sinner", they know how big their sins were because they had been judged by the world and by the Word of God. These were the adulterers, fornicators, murderers, serial killers, rapists, armed robbers, terrorists, homosexuals, among others. In the eyes of the world, such people must have no place in society. For this Christian, the gift of Jesus still means the world to him/her. If not for Jesus, he/she would have been lost forever. To that, he/she would do anything to remind him/herself of what Jesus has done for him/her and to also tell others like him/herself who would benefit immensely from Him. 

For Christians who are/were like Simon the Pharisee, they have been living a morally upright life from the very day they were born. Their biggest sin could have been a lie to have a candy or to take the juice from the fridge without telling mum or dad. In the eyes of the world, their little errors change nothing in society because their several good actions outshine those little errors. To this Christian, please carefully consider the next paragraph.

We are not sinners because we committed a sin. No! We are sinners because we are of Adam. The day we accepted Jesus Christ, we were instantly made right with God and were translated from the kingdom of darkness (satan) to the kingdom of light (God). Though most of the people who give their all to worship and serve God in truth are those who feel they were worthless and were on the highway to hell; the truth is, “Every Christian was once worthless and was headed for hell because he/she did not know Jesus Christ and had not accepted Him as his/her Savior and Lord.” It had nothing to do with what we were doing before we met Jesus; it had everything to do with what Adam did. 

If we didn't know Jesus Christ and should have lived a morally upright life before we died, we would have been in hell with the murderer we hated so much for mass killing.

If we can come to understand that we were all on the highway to hell irrespective of the lives we lived before meeting JESUS, our love for God would never diminish. We will keep finding new ways to show our appreciation each day for the gift of JESUS.

Remain in the blessings of the Lord as you remain in Christ.

MD.