#177

Sees What You Are - Not What You Were

I am not sure of all the psychological reasons as to why we can’t let go of our own pasts with all of our failures and glitches. The writer of Hebrews says we need to put all of that stuff down so we can get focused on Jesus (Hebrews 12).

At his invitation, Jesus has dinner with a Pharisee named Simon (Luke 7). It is during that meal that a sinful woman comes in and begins to cleanse the feet of Jesus. She was a prostitute. Simon knew this about her and, as far as he was concerned, that’s what she would forever be. “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman that she is – that she is a sinner.” He saw her for what she was.

Jesus looks at her and sees a redeemed soul. “Your sins are forgiven.”   He saw her as saved. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

We can take a great deal of solace in the fact that Jesus sees us as we are and not as we were. I can hate what I was. I can get as far away as I can from what I was. I can teach others to not be what I was, but with Jesus I am seen as I am. I don’t need to wear what I was around my neck. I can rejoice in the reality that I am no longer what I was.

If Jesus can see me for what I am, then I should too. If Jesus could look at this prostitute (formerly) and see a redeemed and saved individual, then I can too.

This comes into play in both scenarios mentioned in the previous paragraph; how we look at ourselves, and how we look at others. Sometimes in our dealings with others we only see them as they were. It seems we can’t get past their past. It’s a good thing that Jesus can.

Could it possibly be that we can’t get past their past because we can’t get past our own past? The first step is to hear Jesus say to you now regardless of what you were and did then, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”