Going into the new month with a new team the lord laid it upon my heart to worship him in greater measure. What a privilege and what a opportunity to lay my life down in a greater depth for his glory. What I love is that this was also laid upon the heart of others on my new team before we had even expressed anything.
During the process of coming up with a new team name someone said " team alabaster." I wasn't 100% sold on the team name until i read the story again. As i read the story my heart grew more tender and God began to give me a desire to use " team alabaster" as our name. Why team alabaster? As I read the story of the women in Luke 7 it began to make more sense why. Here is a lady who never ceased to kiss the feet of Christ, she wet his feet with her tears, she anointed his feet with ointment, and she loved much.
Luke 7: 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48 And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
We should all delight so much to be imitators of this woman. In her brokeness she beheld the glory of the son and it brought her to his feet with tears, kisses, and her best ointment to anoint the son. What does giving our best look like in our everyday lives. She loved much because she knew the depth from which she had been forgiven. Oh lord let us not forget the depth you have forgiven us for if we forget we lose sight of our first love.
The part that saddens me more than anything is what Christ said to his beloved son. " Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet,45 You gave me no kiss, 46 You did not anoint my head with oil
Peter is a man who was chosen by god, he was a man who walked with Christ, he was a man who was intimate with Christ, he was a man who's sins were forgiven, he was a man who saw the power god manifested through Christ. I'm afraid that peter may have forgotten for a moment that the Messiah was entering his house. Perhaps, peter became complacent and the presence of the savior didn't move his heart like it used to. Perhaps, Peter lost sight that he was forgiven much?
I think it is fair to say that in this moment the compassion of the lord was on display, the perfect christlike love that reaches out was freely given to a sinner and Peter in his complacency wasn't moved. My prayer is that we would not grow complacent but we would rather grow hungry and thirsty to be at the feet of Christ unceasingly. My hope is that as we weep and our tears flow because we know the magnitude of gods forgiveness, Christ would consider it as us wetting his feet as the alabaster women did. My desire is that this forgiveness and this display of love would ignite in us the desire to go out to people and love them more than ourselves. As Christians we are missionaries 24/7 whether in the community or abroad and we LOVE.
