Scripture: Luke 7.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Luke 7:44-47 (NLT)

44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.

46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “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.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

Did you ever have someone visit with you, and after spending a fair amount of time with you, a question was asked about a mark on the person’s face or something very obvious, and you couldn’t answer the question? Ever found yourself so busy preparing a meal and cleaning up after the meal, that when your friends or family left you wished to yourself that instead you would have devoted more time listening to them and talking with them? I believe that this happens all too often, and unfortunately I believe that it happens all too often in our churches. We are so busy serving, or so busy teaching, or so preoccupied in our own little world filled with so many problems, that we completely tune out that a person may be looking for a wise word from us or a loving, caring thought from us. In fact, we are so busy trying to impress others, that we don’t take time to spend specifically and personally with Jesus – the whole purpose for us attending church in the first place. In the captioned verses we see where Simon was so busy trying to be a good host and attending to the matters he thought important, that Jesus quickly brought to his attention the important customary things that had been overlooked. Compare that to the lady who came for the specific purpose of blessing the Savior, worshipping Him and anointing Him. She had no interest in bringing something to help with the meal or something to impress others in the room. She came with an intended purpose, and she carried it out. We can learn so much from this story! If we went to church with the main purpose being to meet with Jesus, to worship Him, to spend time with Him, to express our love for Him, and to Him – imagine how dim and unimportant the other things that we concentrate on today would become? Becoming one with Jesus is all about relationship, not what we could do for Him.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord, I am ashamed to come before You today in prayer, because of guilt in all this lesson has taught me. For I have become so engrossed in trying to do things for You, when You are more than capable of doing for yourself. I am so busy trying to do for others so that they might see an act of Jesus, when all they are really looking for is evidence of my love for You so they could be assured of my true relationship with You. Please forgive me and help me to overcome these weaknesses. Please help me instead to concentrate on my relationship with You, and that I might express my love for You. Please touch the lives of all readers of this devotional so that they may recognize Your love and their need for a closer relationship with You, not the busyness of their Christian lives.

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
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