Welcome friends to Preach It Girl Podcast, where we aren't just sitting around waiting for Jesus to return and skinny pop to make us skinny. No, Sari. I mean, those things are bound to happen, but while we wait, join me, Auntie Lila, on a jaunt through the scriptures so lively, you'll think they were written just yesterday, not thousands of years ago. Now put on your listening ears for a somewhat sassy retelling of stories from the Bible. We are visiting John chapters 7 and 8. I had to revisit this story after mentioning it in my last episode with Rahab the prostitute. In this encounter with Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. I'm so thankful that this story is included in our Bible. It's a beautiful picture of our amazing Savior. In one brief encounter, he displays compassion, schools the religious using their own words against them, and then reminds this poor woman who was humiliated and used as a pawn to trap Jesus that she can and must live differently. Let me read it to you. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. The people came to him and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? They said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground, and they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on, sin no more. Oh my gosh, isn't this an amazing example of what's needed in the world today? Truth and mercy? I fall in love with Jesus again and again by reading his word. How can you not love Jesus when you read this story? He speaks to the religious rule follower and the rebel in equal measure, neither measuring up to a holy God. You know, anytime you attempt to point out another's faults, it is important to check your motives. Here, the religious leaders and rulers sought to entrap Jesus. Y'all, they threw this woman at Jesus. I mean, she wasn't having adultery by herself. These foolish men thought they were just dealing with an uneducated poor man, not believing it was the Jesus, the Messiah. And to them, the woman, she was nothing but collateral damage. But they would have thought nothing of stoning her to death, just to prove a point. They thought of her as a nothing. But Jesus wasted no time in exposing their motives. I love that. I believe Jesus may have thought of them when in Matthew chapters 23, he criticized their hypocrisy and said, You blind guides, you strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. That's kind of funny, but in the law, they would actually strain the wine to make sure there wasn't a gnat in there and accidentally ingest it because it would be considered unclean. And then by swallowing a camel, Jesus just pointed out that they're concerned with the tiniest detail, but then would ignore the far greater sins, such as deceit, oppression, and lust. Hence the fact that they did not bring the guy that the woman was with. They just brought her. The hypocrisy of appearing righteous on the outside while being corrupt on the inside and focusing on the trivialities while neglecting the core principles of what God finds important, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. I mean, Jesus said all of them are important, but come on, you're gonna strain out a gnat. But then allow injustice, allow lust. And to Jesus, the woman was no triviality. She was just as important to him as they were. We know this because although by schooling the elites they no longer sought her death, Jesus also did not seek to condemn her. Many of us would love for the story to end there with only mercy, right? Yeah. Jesus loves her and he gave her mercy, but Jesus loves her too much to go without giving her some good counsel, a rebuke, right? Go and sin no more. He came to give us life, abundant life, and he knows we cannot have abundant life living in repeated sin. Sin is bondage. It looks inviting at the beginning, but once it seduces us, it becomes chains on our hearts, in our minds, in our bodies. We weren't just given the commandments to please God, a holy God. They were also given for our benefit because he knows a good life doesn't come when we're living in bondage. To sin means death. A life with God, a life pursuing God is an abundant life. Friend, Jesus loves you too much to leave you in your sin. He loves me too much to leave me in my sin. Even though he takes the punishment for all of it, he still says, Laurel, Auntie Lala, go and sin no more. He says it to you too. Yes, you are forgiven, but go and sin no more. Don't get friendly with sin. Run from it. Part of the good news of Jesus is we can start each day with a clean slate. The Lord's mercies are new every morning. That's what he says. That's what he tells us. Don't waste another day in prison. Freedom is available to every person alive on this earth. Freedom. Don't wait. Just call on the name of Jesus and ask for him to take your failures and exchange them for the rich life you were always meant to have. True life, a satisfying life, rich in love and mercy. So what should we remember about this story? God has already seen everything you've done and knows every thought you've ever had, every word you've spoken, everything in your heart. And he adores you to the point of giving his life for you. He would have still gone to the cross for just you. Take a moment over the next few mornings and close your eyes and put yourself in this woman's sandals. Look into the love-filled eyes of Jesus and ask him for a clean slate. He always says yes. I'll do it. No matter what you've done, no matter how bad you feel, he still says yes. Just come to me. Tell me, confess it, and I will forgive you. Oh, isn't that good? Okay, that's all for today. I'd love to hear what you think about this podcast. Leave a review wherever you listen, or you can pop over to Preach It Girl Podcast on Instagram and leave a message for Auntie Lala. She will answer you back. I love you so much and I look forward to the next episode, I hope you do too, of Preach It Girl.