Re:Verse reading–Luke 7:36-50 (day six)
What I admire most about this woman is her shear guts, her no-one-is-keeping-me-from-Jesus courage. She wasn’t walking into friendly territory; she had been marked with a letter s, for sinner. The pharisees were smug; they would never come in contact with such a sinful woman. She was a dark stain, the other, the one that doesn’t belong; she was the, “that’s what wrong with our society.” She was walking into a room full of daggers for eyes,..and she couldn’t have cared less, because in the heart of that room was her Jesus!
I don’t know what having her kind of guts would mean for me; I know I would likely be different in how I talk about Jesus to others, how I worship, how I love the least of these. All I know is that I want more of it! Guts!
We see personal courage through the woman sinner. We may have seen or heard many stories that are life savings for others and these could not have mastered without personal courage and determination of those who led the efforts or initiatives.
We may have seen many examples in various walks of life and in the workplace! These people had the guts to do things that are extraordinary and are dangerous to their beings or their survivals. They had the guts to change the status quo. They had personal courage to stand up to what they believed and to overcome fears and unknown outcomes. Personal courage is a core ingredient in leadership. It takes guts or personal courage to act on something that we believe will bring a desired outcome!
The woman sinner’s desire to see and to worship Jesus was greater than her fear of these guests at the Simon’s house. Their scorn was a high price to pay, but to the woman sinner, it was worth it.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.”~~Mark Twain
She definitely mastered what her heart told her to do! She achieved her purpose!
Me too,Danny. Me too.