Do you ever feel abandoned by God? Do you wonder if He is there? It might have been brought on by a devastating blow. How could God allow this to happen? Maybe it just happened in the monotony of life. Shouldn't a life with Christ be exciting? Joyful? But we have our won way of answering this dryness, this emptiness. We throw ourselves into doing what should bring us closer to God. What can I do to make God happy with me? Devotion times are lengthened. Prayers are moved to closets. If there is a need at church I am there to fill the missing space. And yet I am still void and I am exhausted. Or... I give up and rebel. It's so much easier. Let my sinful nature take over for a while. Just go on cruise control and enjoy myself for a while. That fills me. Fills me with filth and guilt. Fills me, but does not complete me. Now I am not just empty and yearning for something. Now I am broken and hurting. Two rather bleak options. Aren't you glad that God created a third option? It warms my soul knowing He provided a way.

Galatians 5:6

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Wow!...How amazing!...Wow?...What does that look like? Faith expressing itself through love?

Luke 7:36-50

³⁶Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. ³⁷When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, ³⁸and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.

⁴¹"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^a]">[a] and the other fifty. ⁴²Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

⁴³Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

⁴⁴Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

⁴⁹The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

⁵⁰Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Here we have two very different people with the same problem. There is a Pharisee and a prostitute. One of them hedges themselves with rules and regulations. Man made rules that only push them farther from God. Unable to understand what it means to have faith...and therefore love. Then the other who would not put trust in God. Once again a lack of faith and so there is a miss guided and corrupt love. Yet the one of them has something the other does not. A repented heart and... faith. The result... "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."