4 - Giving Up on Lies

Luke 7:
36. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to come to his home for lunch and Jesus accepted the invitation. As they sat down to eat,
37. a woman of the streets - a prostitute - heard he was there and brought an exquisite flask filled with expensive perfume.
38. Going in, she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping, with her tears falling down upon his feet; and she wiped them off with her hair and kissed them and poured the perfume on them.    (Living Bible)

The exquisite flask which this woman brought with her, was made of a marble-looking material called alabaster, which was used to store and preserve precious anointing oils and expensive perfumes.

This kind of flask would be opened and used just once, to mark a very special occasion, and its cost was usually a year's wages for a working man.
The flask of perfume may have been how this woman had invested her life savings.
The fact that she broke the vial and poured it out on the feet of the Lord Jesus, indicates the value she put on the changes Jesus had made in her life.

Many times when women end up as social outcasts, like this woman, they have lost all trust in others, they are certain that nobody loves them genuinely; they believe that their own lives have no real value; and that everyone will try to take advantage of them, so they must strike first.

This woman had evidently learned that all these negatives that life had taught her, were completely untrue where Jesus was concerned. She had come to understand that she had believed lies about herself and God.

She had discovered that in God's eyes, she had always been a person of value and this had restored her personhood.

The scriptures had come alive to her:
Jeremiah 31 : 3. For long ago the Lord had said to Israel:
I have loved you, O my people, with an everlasting love;
with loving-kindness I have drawn you to me.    (Living Bible)

Jeremiah 29 :
11. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12. In those days when you pray, I will listen.
13. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.
14. Yes, says the Lord, I will be found by you, and I will end your slavery and restore your fortunes . . .    (Living Bible)

Prayer:
Father, I may not be a social outcast like this woman, but if I have believed lies about You or myself or my value in Your eyes, please help me to find out the truth, so I can be made free, and live in the liberty that Jesus has provided for me,
in His name I pray,    Amen.