Love and service of the 'forgiven much'

Luke 7 : 36 - 50

...he who has been forgiven little loves little....

It is a great pity that we do not hear more testimonies of God's amazing grace and forgiveness in the lives of those around us. Maybe many of the Christians in our churches led quite 'decent' (by human standards!) lives before their conversion. I read the recent issue of Asian Beacon entitled "Grace". And my heart was warmed by several stories of people whose lives had truly been transformed by God's grace and forgiveness. They certainly came from backgrounds that we would undoubtedly label 'sinful' in our day.....drug addiction.....violent crimes......imprisonment....they are people many of us have never met in our lives, let alone sat beside in our churches.

Certainly the Pharisee was quite shocked by Jesus' response to the woman who showed up, someone with the reputation of being a 'sinner'. In his parable of the two debtors, Jesus shows the self-righteous Pharisee just where he stands......among those who have never appreciated and experienced the depth of forgiveness God has made available to him.

I realize that the time when my devotion for the Lord grew tremendously was when, deeply convicted of certain specific sins, I repented and experienced God's gracious forgiveness. It is usually not enough for someone to pray a 'blanket' prayer for forgiveness without naming specific sins. Perhaps many Christians have done that, leaving them with a little bit of the Pharisee inside.....because they have not experienced a depth of forgiveness that surely all need....for we have all sinned grievously in God's eyes. Yes, not all have broken a country's laws or been imprisoned. But spiritual guides of old have long since testified that the closer one comes to God, the more one is convicted of the depth of one's sinfulness.

As I read the stories in Asian Beacon, it was clear that very deep conversion had taken place in the lives of those people. They knew they were among the 'forgiven much'. They had nothing left to hang on to in terms of reputation. Their only lifeline was the forgiveness and cleansing from God. It is now easy for them to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, giving back to him the lives he restored. I know I must not forget what the Lord has done for me. It is no point comparing with others to find out who are greater 'sinners'. In God's account book we have all been 'forgiven much'. It depends on how humbly we will appreciate that fact (perhaps even experience it through the grace of deep contrition) and love and serve our Lord with joyful gratitude.