#7 Notorious Faith

“Notorious” is defined in my Webster’s dictionary as: “Publicly known; manifest to the world; evident; usually known to disadvantage; hence this word is almost always used in an ill sense…” This is an accurate description of the woman in this Bible passage. She was a well known town sinner before coming to Jesus, but she has been a well known woman of faith ever since that time!

If you know the Word of God even a little bit, you know that the last days are going to be days of unbridled sin in the world. We have seen how Jesus compared that time to the notoriously sinful days of Lot in Sodom and the notoriously sinful days of Noah before the flood. Here we can learn how to handle such days by following this woman’s example. She escaped her condition by becoming more worshipful and honorable than sinful! Because she knew how great Jesus was, she was able to recognize how unbounded her forgiveness could be. Her hope in Him caused her to pour herself out on Jesus in a very lavish way; much the way God demonstrates His love to us.

It has been speculated that this alabaster flask of perfume was worth the equivalent of a year’s wages, and yet she held nothing back. She gave completely, even using her own tears, hair and kisses to wash the Lord’s feet! Jesus then contrasted the inaction of the self-righteous religious leader in whose home this occurred with this woman’s deed, straightforwardly telling him that his love was insufficient for such levels of faith and forgiveness!

We have an opportunity to go above and beyond the “normal standards” for God in these last days. Let’s be notoriously passionate believers in anticipation of Jesus’ return!!

This excerpt was taken from Everyday Preparation For Jesus’ Return by Rocky Veach.