IN EVERYTHING give thanks… (1 Thessalonians 5:18, KJV)
Today I begin with an apology. In my writing last month, I inadvertently misquoted Jesus.
You might not have seen it. If you did, you may recall I was writing about a woman who was “overflowing with gratitude.” Luke spoke of her in the seventh chapter of his gospel, saying she was known to have a “sinful life.” Somehow she entered Simon’s home and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears then dried them with her hair. Then she kissed them and anointed them with perfume.
Simon was annoyed that Jesus allowed this woman to touch him, to which Jesus responded, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little” (NIV).
In my writing, I quoted Jesus as saying, “He who is forgiven much loves little”—almost opposite of what he was saying. Please accept my apology. This error has been corrected in the archive of the Links Daily Devotional online.
What I was attempting to say was this woman knew she had been forgiven much. And she loved much.
When I began my journey with Jesus, I thought I was a good guy and not much of a sinner. Over the years I have come to see that my sin was much larger than I realized.
It’s similar to when I first started to play professional golf. Having been No. 7 in the ranking college players, I assumed I could step out on the PGA TOUR and immediately start winning nice checks. Wrong.
I underestimated the difficulty of making it on the Tour and overestimated my own ability.
In Luke’s account of Jesus, the woman, and Simon, I was Simon.
Simon seemed oblivious to his own sin, which he underestimated. At the same time, he overestimated his righteousness.
When Jesus left Simon’s home, the woman walked away forgiven, debt canceled, and overflowing with gratitude. Simon ended up unforgiven and most likely bewildered.
I ask myself today, Do I fully realize how much I’ve been forgiven? Do I realize how large the payment was to cancel my debt?
We cannot physically kiss Jesus’ feet out of gratitude as this woman did. But we can say thank you, not once but often. We can answer the call of the writer of Hebrews to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15, KJV).
—
Jim Hiskey
November 20, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.