Come Anyway!-Another Note
Happy Palm Sunday, friends!
I hope you have enjoyed a beautiful time in the presence of the Lord as we celebrate His triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
Today marks the first day of Holy Week (some call it Passion Week). Let’s take this week to refocus our gaze. Let’s behold the beauty of His love for us that led Him to the Cross. May our hearts be stirred again, as on the day we first believed, to cry out WORTHY IS JESUS, THE LAMB OF GOD.
As I have been reflecting, I remember a beautiful story that happens during Holy Week, the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. In this account, Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner at his house. After dinner, Jesus reclined at the table, and a woman came to Him. This woman began to wash His feet with her tears, and dry them with her hair. She also kissed His feet and anointed them with costly oil from her alabaster flask. (see Luke 7:36-50)
This woman entered a house where she had no place because of her past. She had been a sinful woman. The scriptures say she was a known sinner who had many sins. With those sins came a reputation. And that reputation garnered shame, humiliation, and rejection. She knew she’d never get an invite to a dinner like this one. But she came anyway!
You see, this place of unwelcome was also a place of great welcome. As she entered the house of Simon, she also entered the presence of her Savior, a place she would always belong, a place where she would always be welcomed.
She didn’t walk into that house brazen and bold but desperate, with a deep longing to worship.
Her haters were still haters! But she was in the presence of the One who loved her most. He loved her with a love that was redeeming, restoring, and refreshing. A love that was just not expressed only through words, but this love was palpable.
That love freed her! And she went away in peace.
This beautiful story gives us another look into the love of Jesus. Of how He lovingly welcomes us into His presence. This woman was free to come! She came as she was and left forever changed.
You may not be like this woman, a person of many sins, or you may be. You may feel left out or locked out because of your past. You may feel the sting of rejection that leaves you feeling uninvited. But, come anyway!
You may be holding on to grief that consumes you. Come anyway!
You may feel shame because you haven’t come in a while. Come anyway!
You may feel unloved, unwelcomed, unnoticed, or unwanted. Come anyway!
You may even feel like everything is going great, and there’s no need. COME ANYWAY!
Jesus hasn’t changed. He welcomes us into His presence, where we can worship at His feet. We can pour our praise on Him and worship Him in the beauty of holiness.
It is there that we are changed, freed, made whole, and we leave in peace.
As we enter this Holy Week, may we make time to worship at the feet of our Beautiful Savior!
Your friend in the journey,
Erica
REMEMBER: The Word W.O.R.K.S. Walking in Wholeness, Obedience, Righteousness, and Kingdom Success
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