“I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing; make something of me! You can do it; you’ve got what it takes God.” Psalm 40:17 (MSG)

A lot of people are afraid to trust Jesus with their lives because they think that means he will narrow it. He’ll cramp their style and make their life smaller with a lot of rules and restrictions.

When Christ comes into your life, the exact opposite happens. Instead of making your life more religious, he makes it more alive. He makes you more fully human and able to experience the life you were meant to live. He expands your horizons and gives you the ability to see things you’ve never seen before. You may be living a good life now, but God wants to offer you a better life.

The Bible says, “He brings me out into a spacious place; he rescues me because he delights in me!” (Psalm 18:19). God expands the possibilities on your life because he delights in you. He doesn’t just love you; he finds joy in you!

The best way I can describe it is thinking back to when my children were young. They didn’t have to do anything spiritual for me to love them. I loved them and found joy in everything they did because they were my children and I was their father.

God is your heavenly father; he made you, he loves you, and he finds joy in you. He wants to rescue you and give you the better, fuller life that you were destined to have.

“Jesus said, ‘Come down quickly; for I am going to be a guest in your home today!’” Luke 19:5 (LB)

Zacchaeus’ appearance made him feel insecure and lonely. His accusers made him feel bitter and resentful. And his sins made him feel guilty and ashamed. So what did Jesus do? He invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. He didn’t even wait for an invitation.
Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ guilt and shame would prevent him from even daring to invite Jesus to his home. So he took the initiative.

I know that you have things you are ashamed of in your life; we all do. Jesus doesn’t want to condemn you; he wants to change you. He wants you to know him and he wants you to love him as much as he loves you.

You know the story of the Prodigal Son. He leaves home, blows his inheritance on wild living, and when he comes back home his father runs out to meet him and gives him a big hug.  He doesn’t say, “Go take a bath, get a shave and then I’ll hug you.” He accepts him where is he and walks him back home.
No matter what you’ve done, no matter what condition you’re in right now, God wants you. The starting point is to let go of your pride and admit you’ve sinned. That’s the starting point. God saves humble people who admit they need his help.

Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me” (Revelation 3:20 NCV). He wants to dine with you; he want to party with you. He wants to get to know you and he wants you to get to know him and have a relationship.

“Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven. …Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:48, 50 (NIV)

No matter how sinful you think you are, Jesus will never turn his back on you when you come to him looking for transformation.

The woman in Luke 7 gave her life in worship to Jesus. She poured herself out before him. Jesus will never turn away a person who worships like that. He knows our failures, our sins, and our heartaches. He hears our confessions. He knows we are trying to reach out to God and he will not turn us away.
And I pray that you and I will never turn others away who are reaching out the Lord just because they somehow offend our sense of decorum. Instead I pray we will be like Jesus – willing to turn and be touched by someone who is crying out for mercy and forgiveness.

It amazes me how many people I meet who are like the woman in Luke 7. They have a story to tell. Just like the hymn “Amazing Grace” they can say, “I was lost and now I’m found. I was blind but now I see” all because of the transforming power of worshiping the Lord, Jesus Christ. You and I both have a testimony of how we once had a black heart and then God forgave us and transformed our lives because we came openly and honestly to him.

Jesus does not make light of sin. When he spoke to the woman, this is what he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven … your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 8:48, 50 NIV). He took her sins seriously and he also took forgiveness seriously. We need to do the same.

Let me ask you, who do you relate to in this story?
Do you feel more like Pharisee who refused to be touched by people, someone who was always reminding others of their failures?
Do you relate to the woman who knew she was a sinner and needed forgiveness, a second chance?
Do you relate to Jesus who is willing to be touched by other people’s brokenness and who responds by offering grace, mercy, forgiveness and the peace of God?

The Pharisee saw the woman in Luke 7 as a sinner worthy of judgment, but Jesus saw her as a woman in need of forgiveness.
Jesus, knowing what the Pharisee was thinking, told him a story about two men with huge debts that they couldn’t pay (Luke 7:41-42). Yet the moneylender canceled both of their debts. Jesus asked the Pharisee, “Which of them will love him (the moneylender) more?” (Luke 7:42 NIV). The Pharisee said the one with the greater debt.
The point is that love and forgiveness go hand-in-hand. Because the Pharisee was counting on his self-righteousness, he couldn’t see his need for forgiveness and that blinded him to compassion, especially for those in great need.
The woman, on the other hand, understood the depth of her sin and knew she could only count on God’s great mercy. And she showed her thankfulness through her bold, honest, humble and extravagant worship.
Jesus pointed out the difference between these two hearts when he told the Pharisee how his actions differed from the woman’s. The Pharisee did not give Jesus water to wash his feet, yet the woman bathed them with her tears. The Pharisee did not give Jesus a welcoming kiss when he entered, yet the woman could not stop kissing his feet. The Pharisee did offer the customary oil for Jesus’s head, yet the woman poured her best perfume on him.
When we understand the depth of God’s love and forgiveness, it deepens our love for him. It also means that we no longer look down on other sinners or think that we are better than anyone else.

“As she stood behind Jesus 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.” Luke 7:38 (NIV)

There are some powerful lessons about worship and about the transformation that happens in the life of a worshiper in Luke 7. The sinful woman in this story exhibited four traits we need to take note of:

She worshiped boldly. This woman took a risk coming to the Pharisee’s house. She could have been thrown out or stoned, but she came boldly. She marched right into the house, into the dining room, into Jesus’ presence. Why would she do that? She was looking for forgiveness. She was looking for hope and acceptance. She was looking for some kind of change in her life. She was not there just to pay homage to some holy guy.
She worshiped humbly. She wept in Jesus’ presence, wetting his feet with her tears. Then, in her deep sorrow, she got down on her knees, showing her submission to God, and dried his feet with her hair.
She worshiped honestly. Many biblical scholars believe the sinful woman must have been a prostitute because she brought an expensive jar of perfume with her. This jar of perfume had significance – it represented her life; it represented her background; it was one of the tools of the trade. When she came to Jesus with that jar and poured it on his feet, it was her confession. She was honestly telling Jesus who she was.
She worshiped extravagantly. She showed Jesus extravagant worship by using a jar of perfume that probably cost her an entire year’s wages. And she didn’t just dab on a couple of drops. Luke 7:38 says she poured the perfume on his feet. Why? This was her opportunity to come clean, to meet God, worship him and be transformed. It was her chance to start over.

You don’t have to clean up your act before you can worship God. Worship him and he’ll clean up your act. You don’t repent and confess in order to earn forgiveness. You change your ways because you’ve been forgiven.
Romans 12 says that we offer ourselves to the Lord in worship so that he can transform us. It’s the worship that comes first. That’s what we see in this woman’s life.

by Buddy Owens