Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Being a disciple of Christ seems like a pretty amazing calling and it is. However are we not all called to be disciples. Jesus Himself said if you want to be my disciple you must deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me daily. Even Matthew a tax collector(sinner), rejected by his own people, became a disciple of Christ. Really if you look at the 12 that Jesus hand picked, one was a doubter, one was a betrayer, and one was a denier. Sound familiar, feel any connection to one or all of these guys? Yet Jesus knowing full well what each would do still chose them and poured into their lives. How often do I judge someone and maybe even wright them off like the Jews did with Matthew and not give someone a chance? Oh how I wish I could see people like Jesus saw them and treat people like Jesus treated them. Today may the Lord fill me with compassion and mercy that I might see in others the potential of following Christ just as I desire to follow Him.
Father I need your eyes and heart to see others the way you see them. May I give others a chance to follow you, just as you have given me a chance over and over to follow you.
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