the great realization

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Luke 5:29-6:11. Jesus is eating and drinking with sinners. The Pharisees get upset about this because they don't realize something very important. They should be glad that He loves sinners - because they are sinners, too.

The great realization that they haven't made is that we are all sinners. That's very often not a pleasant realization, because we prefer to think of people as "good guys" and "bad guys." WE, of course, are the good guys. Those people who cheat and murder and lie and steal and practice other religions and live in other countries - those are the bad people. That's the great delusion that many of us live under.

But it's very liberating when we realize that it's not true. That ALL of us humans are sinners. We've all messed up, and we all deserve to be eternally separated from God. But He loves ALL OF US so much that He made a way for us to be saved from that separation.

So we shouldn't look down our nose at sinners... because we ARE sinners. We should share His love with everyone - because WE need His love too! And the ones who think they need it least are the ones who actually need it most.

God, thanks for saving all of us sinners from our own foolishness. Help us love one another.