I Don’t Care Where You’ve Been Sleeping
There’s a cool story about a woman who offered a kindness to Jesus one day as He relaxed at the house of a religious dude. This woman brought in a bottle of real expensive perfume an’ began to wash Jesus’ feet with both it an’ her tears! The guy whose home Jesus was in took offense ‘cause she was not the type of person that most people would want to associate with—as far as he was concerned, she was out in bad standings. But, Jesus turned to him and told a story:
Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, an’ so the banker canceled both debts. (Luke 7:41-42)
Afterwards, Jesus asked this question: “Which of the two would be more grateful?” That’s a good question, isn’t it? An’ the answer is pretty simple: “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.” Jesus then went on to discuss the great truth behind this story – if someone has a whole bunch of sins forgiven, then that person will be more thankful than another who had fewer sins forgiven.
A lot of people look down on bikers, in general, an’ patch holders and “1%ers”, in particular: “Man, there’s no way those guys can ever find God’s forgiveness!” If you believe such, I reply, “That’s not what the Bible says!” In fact, God’s heartbeat is jus’ the opposite: to the roughest and meanest and lowest and most guilty – to all those who are “out in bad standings” – Jesus urges:
Are you tired to the bone; worn an’ burned out with everything? Come to me. Get away with me, an’ you’ll recover your life. (Matthew 11:28)
The key is comin’ to Christ! It doesn’t make any difference how bad someone is ‘cause Jesus’ forgiveness is greater than even the worst a person can do! You see, the Bible says that God sees all people in the same way – that’s right, “we’re all sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everyone else”; “there’s nobody living right, not even one”; “nobody knows the score”; “they’ve all taken the wrong turn”; an’ “they race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year.”
It’s like God’s looking into a barrel o’ sin from the top down. Thus, the “layers” of sin that we might see lookin’ in from the side is not how God views it—instead, from top to bottom, sin is sin! An’ all of it, from the least to the greatest, is deservin’ of God’s just punishment. Man, we can’t deny what Romans 6:23 says: “Work hard at sin your whole life, an’ your pension is DEATH!!!”
But, there’s also good news found in that same verse: “God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus.” You see, what man did in destroyin’ his relationship with God, God reversed in the work of His Son! An’ when Jesus told the story of the gal who sinned a whole bunch, yet who received forgiveness for all she had done, He intended to communicate to us the truth that we, too, can receive God’s gracious forgiveness no matter how bad we are! But, we must “come to Jesus” just as the woman in the story did.
Will you come to Jesus an’ trust Him with all you’ve got? Will you repent – that is, see your sin for what it is, grieve over it, agree with God that you’ve “done the deed,” feel disgrace at what you’ve done, an’ turn an’ run away from it in spite of it costin’ you big time . If you do, then forgiveness’ door is open – wide open – even if you’re “out in bad standings.” C’mon in an’ be forgiven!!!
With all due love, loyalty, and respect,
2R
Copyright © 2005 CrossWind Ministry
