The Bible says: ‘One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him…When a certain immoral woman…heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee…saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”’ (vv. 36-39 NLT). Then Jesus answered his thoughts. What did Jesus tell this Pharisee? The same thing that He is saying to you today: It’s your past that qualifies you to worship God. ‘I tell you, her sins – and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love’ (v. 47 NLT). The depths of sin from which she had been lifted caused her to rise to heights in worship that this Pharisee couldn’t understand. If there is a worship leader in Scripture, it’s David. Looking back, he writes: ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; and He…heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord’ (Psalm 40:1-3 NKJV). So, the word for today is – your past qualifies you as a worshipper!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.