May 27, 2018 MATTHEW CHAPTER 9
Greetings from Paris. I'm writing from the airport on the way to Albania. Seeing masses of people, everyone of whom Jesus loves. These verses from Matthew 9 struck me. Do I see people like Jesus does. Do I pray like He does. Am I moved with compassion? Lord, give me your heart for your harvest!
What struck you today in Matthew 9?
In verse 9, Jesus calls a tax collector to follow Him. Matthew, the tax collector, drops what he is doing, and follows Jesus. But why would Jesus call a tax collector? Tax collectors were people who were hated, despised, because many times they cheated people out of their money. What I love about this is Jesus' compassion. He says later in the chapter that "it is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick." So Jesus goes to the hurting, the broken, the hated, and asks them to follow Him. It's so cool how Matthew just gets up and follows Jesus. He doesn't hesitate or say later. He follows. He had probably heard and seen Jesus before. So when Jesus came to him, he probably didn't know why either. He knew he was hated. He knew he wasn't a good guy. Yet Jesus gave him another chance! He let Matthew turn his life around for what matters! And if we all had faith like Matthew, faith that immediately drops what we were doing to follow Jesus, what would this world be like?
ReplyDeleteAwesome observation, Hannah! One of the ways that we can tell that we are on mission with Jesus is that we will be loving the kind of people He loved. Let's run with Him to the broken and hurting and lost!
DeleteAlso one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Matthew 9:37-38. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." We are called to one purpose for one King and one kingdom with one mission. To love and serve first God, then others. To live life not for ourselves, but for Jesus! We live to make Him known, not ourselves! This is the mission to which we were called. Wether or not we listen to that call, is our choice. But it is the greatest life! Life with Jesus!
ReplyDeleteAmen! The best gift God gives is is himself! Lord, may we learn to open the gift of life with you everyday.
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