Luke 5: 27-28 "Follow Me." And Levi, leaving everything, rose and followed Jesus. He left his tax collector booth standing empty and he invited all of his tax collector friends to a party to meet Jesus. That's all the people he knew---sinful traitor-dealing tax collectors. Social enigmas. Cultural Stigmas. And Levi belonged to the worst kind of tax collector group possible. He wasn't part of the Gabbais, who collected general income taxes. No, Levi was a Mokhe who preyed upon the society, collecting taxes on imports and exports. Levi had a toll both set up charging more for animals and produce than he should have. Backed up by the Roman government who imprisoned violators, tax collectors were universally hated. It was a thankless job even though the tax collectors walked away rich.
Meet Matthew. Jesus called Levi with two simple words: Follow Me.
Why did Levi abandon all and follow so quickly? What was stirring in Levi's heart? Some believe that this tax collector followed Jesus and taxed the crowds that came to hear Him with his movable tax booth. If that is true, Levi would have heard sermons on the mount and seen lepers leap in new life and little girls raised from the dead back into their mommy's arms, as he taxed those who crossed his road following a rabbi called Jesus. He probably even taxed the Son of God.
It was normal for rabbis to gather the best and most committed followers around them. It wasn't normal for Jesus to call sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors. Jesus called the outcasts of society---the betrayers and the betrayed not the brightest and the best.
Here's another disciple rising up to the Invitation to follow Jesus and leave everything behind. So just like Peter and James and John who, sentences ago, left their boats and docks with the smell of fish on them, here's Levi and the smell of money, evaluating the cost of leaving a lucrative lifestyle. Yes, this tax collector turned from darkness to light and Levi became the beloved Matthew who went on to write the Book of Matthew.
From a traitor wielding words and taxes on passers-by
to an author witnessing and offering the very Word of God.
The compilation and compulsion of a lifestyle of sin became an occasion of peace and pardoning, the welcomed weilding wild grace of God.
Levi - "joined" ~~~~
Matthew - "Gift of God"
Will you, oh Gift of God, say yes today to the call of God on your life?
Follow the Rabbi, oh sinful man.
"And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today."
ReplyDeleteSo we took my sister to church on Sunday morning (in a wheelchair). During one Praise & Worship song my sister broke down in tears. I think she had a special private moment with God for the first time. After the service a friend of my mom's (along with my mom's favorite Pastor) Prayed over her. She cannot even walk without a walker after her surgery. Her leg jerks uncontrollably when she walks. The doctors aren't sure why. I'm hoping it's just because of the swelling in her neck. She has been mean and nasty (with a capital M & N) to the people she loves and it's difficult to be around her. Anyway... I took her kids on a little get-a-way and last night she said her leg was doing better. She said it might just be because of the power of Prayer. I soooooo hope so!
Thank you for your Prayers! You guys should have heard Sylvia's prayer she left me on a voicemail. You Are an amazing group of ladies and I cherish each of you!
Love you!
p.s. Zack (Tourettes) has been very easy to deal with so far and I'm positive it's because of your prayers!
ReplyDeleteLuke 5:36 "He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. "
ReplyDeleteAs I become new in Him, I have to be careful not to try to wiggle into the old garment of sinful nature.
Isaiah 61:10 (NIV):
"I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Angie...so thankful you have seen answered prayer....what a blessing and a testimony to the power of prayer. I do love what you wrote today Bev..you are so faithful with all that is going on in your life to do this ahead of time etc. And I do echo what you wrote about following Jesus..dropping whatever we were involved in and following Him. What struck me about today's reading was the four friends who took the time and effort to bring their friend to the Master to be healed......I saw in that the power of friends bringing us to the throne of God in prayer. We lift each other up in the body of Christ to the ONLY ONE who can heal us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. There are a ton of people lifting a young friend to the throne as she is having a mastectomy today and she is six months pregnant with the only child she will ever have and one who waited till she met the one God chose for her. I saw her being carried on that mat to the Master and asking for total healing and life.
ReplyDeleteSorry to go on so...she is just heavy on my heart. Blessings on each one of you today.
Angie, your story stirs my heart. Like the paraplegic, your sister was brought before the Lord, and He touched her heart. Praying for continued healing for your sister and her family.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I have taken comfort in the story of the paraplegic more than once. I have one friend who wasn't able to pray for herself during her chemotherapy, and her friends prayed. It felt like carrying her. There's an old song by Babbie Mason called "Standing in the Gap" that I love which captures this beautiful love Christians have for each other.
Mary Lou, when I think of this young woman, your dear friend's daughter, I don't understand, but I have seen the power of prayer and more importantly, the power of the Lord on those who take refuge in Him. Standing in prayer with you this morning for her and her precious family.
And Annette H, praying with you for your good friend who had surgery for ovarian cancer yesterday.
Lord, look this way, and heal your servants.
Blessed Wednesday, Pearls.
"And the power of the Lord was with him to heal."
ReplyDeleteJesus sat teaching and the power to heal was on Him. We talk about God here, and we talk about Jesus. This power came and showed them ALL who Jesus was. He is our healer. A paralytic that couldn't be brought in through the doorway for the crowd, was lowered by those who had compassion on him straight into the hands of the Lord.
We don't have this same luxury...taking our loved ones to the Lord...but we can sure pray and share Jesus with them. Angie, I pray that your sister would feel Christ and His power to heal.
And for each of the other friends and family members needing the healing touch of Christ, I pray His power would be transforming.
Bev, I pray for your family and the great need of Christ's mercy. May Jesus open doors for Bob and you, Bev. I pray His favor upon your family. You are a witness today of faith. His eyes are on you.
Hopeless needs met.
New Life indeed.
Sylvia, I just want to say thank you for your sweet prayers for me. I cannot tell you what they meant. I needed them.
ReplyDeleteAng, you were a blessing, too, with the concern you sent me. I have been through a lot and God has been so good to lift my spirit when I needed it most through your messages.
I feel your prayers, pearls. And most of all, I am thankful for the time we share in the Word of God. Each one of you encourage me daily to stay in the Word.
I love all of you!
Ang, oh my! Praying for you and your sister that Eph 1:18 will be so very real...open the eyes of their hearts, dear God, that they may see You right in the middle of where they are. You are! You will! Love your faith and vision for your sister!
ReplyDeleteMary Lou, praying tonight for your young friend and the baby she is carrying. Oh this grips me so! Boldly going to the only One Who has the power to heal fully and keep safe. I Samuel 1:17-18 may she find the Favor of her God just like Hannah did. Please let us know how she is doing. I keep her story close.