Bonnie Shares Biblical Aspiration
I posted this question to social media one morning, “Which person in the Bible do you aspire to be like?” I promised my readers my personal response at the end of the day, and this is what I wrote.
I aspire to be like the prostitute in the gospel of Luke 7. Here is part of that passage, then I will tell you why this is my aspiration.
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.”
As Christians, many of us aspire to be like Jesus. I do, too. But as I walk this journey to become more like Jesus, I also pray that I never forget my humble spiritual beginnings, my servitude, and loving devotion to Him. Surrendering to God is a step of divine sanctification, being pulled closer to Him.
The prostitute was not ashamed to cry and to kiss the feet of Jesus. May I never be ashamed to do the same. Crying in the arms of Jesus and at the foot of the cross yields the most tender, yet powerful feeling of love and comfort I have ever felt. Have you ever experienced this?
Then Jesus tells her, 47“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love. Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Love, faith, forgiveness, peace, and salvation. Why would I long for more? This prostitute received it all!
(ref: Luke 7:36 -38, 47-48, 50, NLT).
Bonnie Zickgraf, co-author, July 10, 2020
Bonnie Zickgraf is a retired pastor, author, columnist for The Times and an RN in mental health nursing and health plan accreditations. Send comments and prayer requests to [email protected].