It all started pretty innocent. I was a maid in his house and I used to do all of the cleaning and cooking and looking after the young ones. He and the wife were linen traders and they often were away for nights at a time and sometimes his wife was away and he was left at home taking care of the local shop.

He was a talker and he liked to sit down with a glass of wine after a meal and have a good chat. He did that with his wife most of the time when the children were in bed but on the few occasions she was away, he came to my room and invited me down for a chat and a couple of wines.

I was young and didn't have the body of a lady that had given birth to three children and I was quite funny and easy to joke around with. He liked to question me about my dreams and aspirations and was always fascinated that I was content just helping him and his wife make the house run like clockwork. He knew I wished I had a man of my own, and I made it clear that when I married I wanted a businessman like him. That was another reason I was in their house to learn from them.

His wife was a wonderful woman and very driven. She had a hard side to her, and sometimes was short with her husband and the children. She was a fine businesswoman but something was just not right with her and she seemed to lack the gentle spirit and carefree outlook that I had. In two years I had only seen her laugh once and this was to one of my jokes at the dinner table, and yet he'd been laughing every time I opened my mouth.

I should have shut my mouth and not been such a funny girl, I should have been quiet and reserved and not taken such a keen interest in him, I should have done a lot of things, but we all learn that in hindsight.

It was a summer's day, and he had laughed a few hearty laughs, and drank a few too many drinks when he grabbed me one day and began to kiss me. At first I was shocked but as he kissed me I had to admit to myself that this was really my secret heart's desire. I had often wondered if I was his wife, could I make him happier and as he kissed me I responded and for a night I saw him very happy.

Of course in the morning it was hard for us to be civil with each other. With the sexual union, something had changed and there was tension in the air now as he made it clear that it was only the wine that had allowed him to make such a bad mistake.

It isn't very flattering for a girl to lose her virginity to a man that she loved, only to be told in the morning that it was all a mistake and that if it wasn't for the wine he would never have been so stupid. I was going to leave that day but I made the mistake of staying another six months and it happened every time she went away without him. Soon I was reduced to a constant feeling of shame.

The lady of the house suspected us from the first week but she was so busy and so driven she must have just put it to the side. But one day out the back when I was hanging the washing out she confronted me with it and in tears I made my confession. She promptly kicked me out with one week's income and I was homeless and heartbroken.

It seems news travels fast in small towns and though people didn't know details the sudden departure from their employ was seen as something I did that was just not right. I couldn't find someone to give me a maid's job and the inn where I stayed was demanding the next week's rent.

I was hungry and desperate and had no family to support me and so I pleaded with the innkeeper. I told him if he would let me stay I would not only have sex with him but I would sell my body to other men and he could have 50% of my earnings. The interview went well and when he dressed he said he would spread the word around and it wasn't two hours before I had my first professional client.

Good news spreads pretty slowly, but with my young body and good looks, the news of my services spread really fast and before long I had to tell the innkeeper to limit my visitors to the civil and polite ones that I wanted to see. The ones that I didn't like I tossed and the ones that I liked I kept.

And that was my mistake. One of the men that had seen me three times before I limited my visitors was a powerful man and he was used to getting what he wanted with his money. He had friends in the synagogue and so he went over and reported me for committing adultery. I was in bed with a client one day, shortly afterward when they stormed into my room. The client was told to dress and leave and then they grabbed me and dragged me out of the inn and away to be stoned.

John 8:1-11 (New King James Version)
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say? 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord."

And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

Never before had I met a man like Jesus Christ. I went back to the inn and packed my bags and returned to the marketplace. After He had finished speaking I asked Him what should I do and what was His advice. He told me to come with Him to the house of a widow that was sick and for me to stay and care for her. She had family that would provide for my meals and give me a stipend and that over the years my honor would be restored. From that day to this, I slept with no other man. Two years after I moved into to care for the widow I went for a six-month journey with Jesus and his Apostles, along with His mother and some other devout women of God. I learned much from Jesus in this time and made it my business from that time to make my life shine for all men to know God more and more.

I am sixty five today as I write to you and I have to tell you that life for me has not been that easy. Many people in that town made it hard for me and many people made me think that I would never have a good name, but with God's grace the followers of Christ embraced me and gave me work enough to keep me happy.

Under the Jewish Law I would have been stoned if I had not met that humble carpenter that day. I was guilty of a bad sin and deserving of death and the hellfire. But thanks be to God that Jesus looks to the heart and could see my sin was only a matter of bad circumstance on my part. I grew stronger with my six months with Jesus and I was so happy to have spent such quality time with Mary His mother and Mary Magdalene.

If people only knew how special and humble those two women were there would be no women trying to lead the church or enforce their rights to be heard. Jesus often sat quietly as both Marys shared things on their hearts and Jesus was not beyond learning something from another.

You don't have to worry how big your sin seems to be. Jesus can free you of that sin if you would just let Him. He has the power and the anointing to heal you and you can be set free if you choose. So confess your sin and walk in freedom today. And in the words of Jesus I leave you. Where is your accuser dear friend? Therefore go and sin no more!