Luke 7:38,50 - Standing behind him at his feet,
weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair
of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. And he said
to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (ESV)
I was in a queue at a set of traffic lights in town. We were stationary, so I
looked expectantly towards the red lights in front of me, when a movement in the
car in front of me caught my eye. It turned out to be a woman who had leaned
across to get up close and personal with her passenger: intimate. I thought that
it must be love. One comes upon exhibitions of young parting lovers making
public declarations of affection. I can remember being like that once.
Anyway, the lights being still on red, and my being inquisitive, I watched this
tableau being played out before me. Soon, I realized that the person on whom the
woman was sooo intent, was not her partner; no, it was her toddler son!
Presumably, he was in a booster seat, which raised his head up to an adult
level. She was inspecting his face, then cleaning it, and fussing over him,
prior to dropping him off at the nursery around the corner.
I was not wrong, I thought; it was love! Then, the following words drifted into
my consciousness: "coming towards as if to kiss". Yes, I had been ambushed by
God again. Proskuneo, the Greek word for "worship" in the New Testament, means
just that. I am no Greek lexicon; I had to look it up to find it again. It is
not an amorous encounter, but rather one of trust, love, deference, respect, and
intimacy -- like Mary Magdalene's uninhibited attention to Jesus in today's
Scripture.
As Creator, God longs to be close with His children, just as this mother was
with her son. The question is whether we will allow Him to get up close and
personal. He needs to be close enough so He can clean us up, make us
presentable, encourage us, and then send us out!
Are we ready to be open to Him in reverence today, even up close?
Prayer: Lord, You are awesome and terrible, holy and majestic, yet You are also
jealous of our worship, obedience, and love. So, with bended knee and humble
hearts, we say "Come!" Visit us once more today. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Rod Marshall rmarshall@glos.ac.uk
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
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