~ 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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