adulterous woman

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Job 40:1-42:17
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Psalm 45:1-17
Proverbs 22:14 

Let's look at the proverb. The writer tells us that the mouth of an adulterous woman is a pit and you fall into it if God's anger is toward you. And that is one level of wisdom. We SHOULD be careful not to sin and cause God to chastise us. If we DO sin, we should repent immediately. And we should definitely steer clear of women who are interested in cheating on their husbands.

But thankfully Jesus takes this wisdom to the next level in the picture above. He teaches that both the adulterous woman AND the man who sins with her should be forgiven. See, in that time, a woman caught in adultery would be stoned to death. And Jesus said that, sure, go ahead and stone her. Whoever is without sin should throw the first stone. And of course He Himself could have thrown that stone. But the accusers all left, and Jesus told the woman "neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

Do you think she got up and lived a perfectly sinless life from then on? I'm gonna guess she didn't. But she (along with everyone else present, and you and I and everyone who's read this story over the last 2000 years) learned what forgiveness means. And that we can all come to Him when we sin, knowing that neither does He condemn us.

God, thanks for teaching us to avoid sin - and to come to You when we fall.