One of my favorite events in the Bible is this:
Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
John 8:2-11 NKJV
People are all too quick to condemn others but have absolutely no trouble turning a blind eye to their own sin. I love this event because Jesus made the crowd think of their own sin before casting judgment on another. If we all did that, can you imagine the difference in our world? I also just realized, Jesus didn't condemn them, He simply had them look within.
A Pastor once said (I'm paraphrasing) that when we pray and ask for forgiveness, we should ask forgiveness for our specific sins. He challenged us to identify our daily sins. For the life of me, I couldn't think of any. I don't say that to be pious, but to confess. So many people I talk to, and myself included, tend to think 'I'm keeping the Ten Commandments, except for keeping the Sabbath, so I'm good.' (Remember Mark 10:20?) However, we know that Jesus expanded on what is really involved in order to keep those commandments during the Sermon on the Mount. (See Matthew 5-7). Have you ever been angry with someone? You've committed murder in your heart. Have you ever lusted after another person? You've committed adultery, etc. I have a lot of trouble with anger toward certain people. I may not show it, but that's irrelevant. It's in my heart, and God knows it's there.
Yesterday, during the sermon, our Pastor encouraged us to pray and ask God to show us our sin. I've done this before and all I can say is, be prepared to be humbled. I'm going to do this again, throughout the week and hopefully make it a daily prayer. It's important. We're to be Christlike, but what do other's see in us? So, I challenge you to join me in this. It will change us.
Update:
I realized after praying this and God answering, that my next prayer was "How do I overcome this sin?" followed by, "Lord, please give me the wisdom and the heart to let go of this sin. Please guide me and free me of it."
P.S. I'm bothered they were ready to stone the woman, but not the man who must have participated in the adulterous situation. I realize it was a different culture back then, but still.
*********
Please join me this week in praying for God to show each of us our sins. Pray that He humbles us to acknowledge our sinful nature and our shortcomings so that we can become more Christlike and better image-bearers to those God brings into our lives. Finally, let's pray that we have open hearts, softened hearts in order to not condemn others. Ask God how you can help others instead of judging and walking away.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power
#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #sin #condemnation #judgment #love
No comments:
Post a Comment