Day 13 - More Gratefulness and Less Ingratitude

I don't know how long you have known Jesus personally but let me ask you: Where would you be today without Him? What do you think your life would look like without his presence? These are important questions because we often take our relationship with Jesus for granted. And yet, He has changed absolutely everything for us. His presence and work have impacted our eternal destiny, power for living today, joy factor, marriages and families, work, relationships, and many other aspects of life. Life is never the same once we know Jesus.

Except… we can forget and take all of these things God has done for us for granted. In fact, there are probably many days when we do just that. In forgetting His presence and His work in our lives, we can lose gratefulness for all He has done for us. And when we lose our gratitude, we move from a relationship with Him to mere religious practice. As a result, gratitude can become ingratitude toward Him.

In Jesus' day, the Pharisees didn't understand Jesus, and especially they didn't understand those who loved Him with an irrational love. 

Let's listen in on a conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus found in Luke 7:36-50. 

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not kiss me, but from the time I entered, this woman has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

This is a deeply moving scene. You have a woman, well known in the community as a sinner, which was a term for the most despised people in society. She was probably a prostitute and was considered a pariah by the religious elite and others. As Jesus and the Pharisees were at dinner, this woman came in through an open door and poured expensive oil on the head of Jesus. Then, overcome by emotion, she began to weep, and as her tears fell on the feet of Jesus, she let down her hair and wiped His feet with her tears and her hair. 

All of this was scandalous to the Pharisees. To have a woman like this interrupt their dinner, to have her pour oil on Jesus' head and to do then what they were too proud to do and had not done, wash His feet and wipe them with her hair. It was all too much. Then, even more shocking, she began to kiss His feet—an act of love and honor in the middle of a crowd that was there to dishonor Jesus.

This woman appreciated something that the Pharisees didn't. She was confident that Jesus would show her grace and forgive her. Perhaps she had already been touched by His grace and knew that Jesus either could or had changed her life. She was unashamed of showing her love, honor, and affection, and then Jesus made this statement to the Pharisees. "I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."

You see, the Pharisees didn't appreciate Jesus. The sinning, but now forgiven woman did. She knew what life looked like without Him, and she wanted to experience all that Jesus offered. The Pharisees lived in self-gratitude. The woman knew that she owed everything to Jesus.

Which brings me back to my original question: Where would you be today without Him? What do you think your life would look like without his presence in your life? How has he made a difference in your life, and do you live with great gratitude and love toward Him? Or do you take Him and His work in your life for granted? That is a profound question. Our love for Him is directly connected to our understanding of what He has done in forgiving us, redeeming us, giving us New Life, and making us His family. Nothing is the same with Jesus, but it is easy to forget that and live with ingratitude. So in this season of Lent, let's live grateful lives.

Father, thank you for the witness of this sinful woman who loved you, was forgiven by you, and experienced life change through you. Thank you for the example of her deep thankfulness. Please help me be as thankful as she was for your work in my life. Amen.

The question for today: How can I live with a higher level of gratefulness toward Jesus and never allow my relationship with Him to become merely religious practice?