Forgiven Much

1.7.2010

Luke 7.47b But he who is forgiven little, loves little. ESV

Today, January 7, is the first of two annual reminders for 2010: He who is forgiven little, loves little. He who comes to the Lord for forgiveness and cannot find much to confess is in trouble. We are all sinners and we are all dreadfully so.

There are two issues here, 1. Forgiveness and 2, love. The issue of forgiveness stems partly from what we do but mostly from who we are. We are sinners regardless of our conduct. Every human ever born from Adam on down is a sinner; that is our natural state and there is no changing that reality. But in Christ, and because of God’s great love, every sinner from Adam on down has the opportunity to find forgiveness and when he really does, he really loves; God at that moment of forgiveness frees him from his horrible burden of sin.

The woman at the party (Luke 7) recognized her sin and went to God (Jesus) to find forgiveness – something she was desperate for. And as a result, she loved God much and was saved by faith.

As I said, today 1-7-10 is the first of two annual reminders. I don’t want to be reminded and then forget again until the next one comes around on September 24th. I want to love much between now and then because God has forgiven me much ands continues to do so all the time. So I will call to mind the goodness of God and the dreadfulness of my sin and ask Him to help me live a life of love because He, in His marvelous power and grace, has forgiven me and forgives me every time I come confessing who I really am…

Father in Heaven,

You have offered me salvation not that I may find self-righteousness but that I may find forgiveness, love and life. I pray for Your help today to live rightly and I pray for forgiveness for yesterday when I lived so wrongly. Help me this day I pray in Jesus’ infinite Name, amen.