Jesus Saw, 4

~ Jesus Christ Calls Matthew to Discipleship ~ 

General Comment  ~  When Jesus saw there was always an appropriate reaction and in each case we can learn from the event.

Today’s Scripture  ~  “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  So he arose and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9). 

“Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  So he arose and followed Him” (Mark 2:13-14). 

“After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him” (Luke 5:27-28). 

Application  ~  How about you?  Jesus is calling you to discipleship.  He knows everything about you including the number of the hairs on your head.  Jesus said, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).  Since He knows such detail He certainly knows your God-given potential—in fact He is the One who created you in your mother’s womb.  “You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:13-18a).

He is also the One who is working in the background making sure that everything that happens to you has meaning as He prepares you for eternity with Him.  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

He knew you before the foundations of the earth—continue reading from that last verse:  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).  “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12).  In other words, life on earth for the Christian is preparation time for reigning time!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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