IS HE STILL A GUEST?
When I was in secondary school, Bible Knowledge was a compulsory subject. It was also one of my favorite classes in my third year (ninth grade) for two reasons, I was intrigued by the stories in the Bible and especially because the subject was taught by my favorite teacher - Sister Theresa Okoye. We had about six arms of ninth graders (A-F). I remember checking the other classes’ timetable to see when they had Bible Knowledge and sometimes skipping my classes and sneaking into their class just to be close to Sister Theresa and hear her speak. She was my super star role model! She was worth the whole world to me, I was prepared to give up everything to hang around her and just listen to anything she had to say. I unashamedly sang about her, talked about her, and boasted about her, everyone knew I was her fan.
In one of her classes, she asked a question that revolutionized my life – “Who is the man Jesus Christ to you?” Though she was the one speaking, I felt like it was God the Father asking wanting to know who Jesus was to me personally. It felt like there was silence in heaven awaiting my response. It reminds me of when the angel Gabriel presented God’s proposal to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) and how the inhabitants of heaven may have been silent awaiting Mary’s response and the joy that must have flooded their entire being, when Gabriel returned and announced “her answer was yes!” Sister Theresa was not in a hurry to get past that question. She waited for everyone to give an answer. That day was a defining moment in my life. I remember giving it a deep thought because I felt that whatever I publicly declare that Jesus was to me is what He will remain to me. I could hear my classmates giving their answers, they were saying things like “He is my Savior” “a friend” “the Son of God” “the Savior of the world” “Our provider” “Our protector”. Then it came to my turn, considering all the answers that have already been given, I realized He was all of that and more to me. I found myself declaring “He is my all in all” and He has been that ever since.
Today, I want to ask you the same question I was asked 25 years ago – who is Jesus Christ to you? I don’t want you to base your answer on who you think He should be or who you have been taught He is or even who you have heard other people say He is. Take a deep breath and pause for a moment, look inwards and ask yourself the question.
Jesus will be to us whatever we allow Him to be. He said he stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, if anyone opens to Him, He will come in and dine with the person and the person with Him (Revelation 3:20). This is only the first step to salvation. Sadly, some people do not press in beyond this point. As He dines with us and vice versa, it supposed to bring us to a place of realization of who He truly is and provoke a response in us to worship Him and surrender all to Him.
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him 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. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. (Luke 7:36-38, 44-46 NIV)
We see in the above Bible passage, that Simon the Pharisee was fascinated enough about Jesus to open the door of his home (his personal space, his life) and have Jesus come in to dine with him. True to His nature, Jesus accepted the invitation. Simon had an opportunity of a lifetime to transition from an acquaintance to a bond servant of the Lord, but he either failed to see the opportunity or refused to seize it.
Have you made the transition? Is Jesus still a guest in your life?
I’ve heard it said that one man’s test is another man’s testimony, Simon had a chance he passed on, not so for the renown sinful woman. She will not let such an opportunity pass her by. Based on her sinful reputation, I guess she may have forced her way into Simon’s house damning the consequences. She was not seeking to dine with the Lord; her heart was yearning for something deeper. She was wealthy from her trade; she must also have been a very attractive woman to maintain her clients. I also guess she may have been the envy of a lot of women who secretly wondered what it was about her that made the men in town keep paying for her services, sinful as it was.
This woman had fame (though it was through negative publicity being called sinful) and glamour but was sick and tired of her history. I imagine she was a woman that must have wined and dined with all calibers of men. But when she heard about the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth, the one who is able to forgive sin and make you whole once again, the God of a second chance, the one who is able to make all things new and turn your mess into a message, your misery into a ministry, she was not going to be content with merely dining with such a one. She wanted to surrender her life to Him. She longed to worship Him damning the opinion of the people around her.
She did not even count herself worthy enough to stand in His presence, so she stood behind Him, wet His feet with her tears (she must have shed buckets of it!), wiped them with her glory (her hair) and anointed them with her substance. What a demonstration of reverence! She became the hero of the day!
While some people are struggling with how far they want to walk this Christian walk with God, how much of themselves do they want Him to rule over, where do they want to draw the line, there are some people who are laying it all down before Him – their time, pride, ambitions, past, present, and future, not caring what their peers, the media or even their family will think or say concerning them.
If God was grouping people in either category, where will He place you?
This is not all that is laid on my heart concerning this matter, I will continue from here next week. I hope you’ll be back to read the rest of this message?
Until then,
With Love,
Angela
In one of her classes, she asked a question that revolutionized my life – “Who is the man Jesus Christ to you?” Though she was the one speaking, I felt like it was God the Father asking wanting to know who Jesus was to me personally. It felt like there was silence in heaven awaiting my response. It reminds me of when the angel Gabriel presented God’s proposal to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) and how the inhabitants of heaven may have been silent awaiting Mary’s response and the joy that must have flooded their entire being, when Gabriel returned and announced “her answer was yes!” Sister Theresa was not in a hurry to get past that question. She waited for everyone to give an answer. That day was a defining moment in my life. I remember giving it a deep thought because I felt that whatever I publicly declare that Jesus was to me is what He will remain to me. I could hear my classmates giving their answers, they were saying things like “He is my Savior” “a friend” “the Son of God” “the Savior of the world” “Our provider” “Our protector”. Then it came to my turn, considering all the answers that have already been given, I realized He was all of that and more to me. I found myself declaring “He is my all in all” and He has been that ever since.
Today, I want to ask you the same question I was asked 25 years ago – who is Jesus Christ to you? I don’t want you to base your answer on who you think He should be or who you have been taught He is or even who you have heard other people say He is. Take a deep breath and pause for a moment, look inwards and ask yourself the question.
Jesus will be to us whatever we allow Him to be. He said he stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, if anyone opens to Him, He will come in and dine with the person and the person with Him (Revelation 3:20). This is only the first step to salvation. Sadly, some people do not press in beyond this point. As He dines with us and vice versa, it supposed to bring us to a place of realization of who He truly is and provoke a response in us to worship Him and surrender all to Him.
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him 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. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. (Luke 7:36-38, 44-46 NIV)
We see in the above Bible passage, that Simon the Pharisee was fascinated enough about Jesus to open the door of his home (his personal space, his life) and have Jesus come in to dine with him. True to His nature, Jesus accepted the invitation. Simon had an opportunity of a lifetime to transition from an acquaintance to a bond servant of the Lord, but he either failed to see the opportunity or refused to seize it.
Have you made the transition? Is Jesus still a guest in your life?
I’ve heard it said that one man’s test is another man’s testimony, Simon had a chance he passed on, not so for the renown sinful woman. She will not let such an opportunity pass her by. Based on her sinful reputation, I guess she may have forced her way into Simon’s house damning the consequences. She was not seeking to dine with the Lord; her heart was yearning for something deeper. She was wealthy from her trade; she must also have been a very attractive woman to maintain her clients. I also guess she may have been the envy of a lot of women who secretly wondered what it was about her that made the men in town keep paying for her services, sinful as it was.
This woman had fame (though it was through negative publicity being called sinful) and glamour but was sick and tired of her history. I imagine she was a woman that must have wined and dined with all calibers of men. But when she heard about the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth, the one who is able to forgive sin and make you whole once again, the God of a second chance, the one who is able to make all things new and turn your mess into a message, your misery into a ministry, she was not going to be content with merely dining with such a one. She wanted to surrender her life to Him. She longed to worship Him damning the opinion of the people around her.
She did not even count herself worthy enough to stand in His presence, so she stood behind Him, wet His feet with her tears (she must have shed buckets of it!), wiped them with her glory (her hair) and anointed them with her substance. What a demonstration of reverence! She became the hero of the day!
While some people are struggling with how far they want to walk this Christian walk with God, how much of themselves do they want Him to rule over, where do they want to draw the line, there are some people who are laying it all down before Him – their time, pride, ambitions, past, present, and future, not caring what their peers, the media or even their family will think or say concerning them.
If God was grouping people in either category, where will He place you?
This is not all that is laid on my heart concerning this matter, I will continue from here next week. I hope you’ll be back to read the rest of this message?
Until then,
With Love,
Angela
posted by Angela Lougee | 1:05 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home