Sometimes we feel like an outcast. Sometimes we feel we’ve made mistakes and we can’t get out from under it. And sometimes we walk headlong into sin and we frankly don’t want to stop. Matthew is one these people.
verse 9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
Jesus passed on from there: Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to seek Matthew, a man who is an outcast, but a wealthy and powerful outcast. Jesus has sought us and continues to seek us. Never underestimate this. Today He seeks YOU! Even after we are saved Jesus pursues us to change us to be like Him!
he saw a man called Matthew: His eyes were set on the lost. See Luke 19:10, Ezekiel 34:11; Ezekiel 34:16; Luke 15:4; and Matthew 18:12.
sitting at the tax booth: Matthew, a Jew, was a Roman tax collector. The Romans hired Jews to collect taxes from Jews. This was despised! The Romans were unclean and unwanted; and they overly taxed the Jews. No devout Jew would take this job. Matthew was shunned from Jewish life, Jewish family, and Jewish religious life.
Follow me: No Jewish teacher would seek out Matthew to be a disciple. But this is just what Jesus, a Jewish teacher, DID!! And this is what Jesus DOES for us regardless of our sin or our background. To follow Jesus is to walk away from ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that hinders and distracts is from Jesus.
And he rose and followed him: Matthew walked away from a very wealthy life. But he walked into a MUCH MORE spiritually wealthy, healthy, and whole life with Jesus. Nothing in this world can compare with Jesus. We are blind to this truth until God opens our eyes.
In Jesus are the greatest pleasures and deepest peace. This is what Matthew needed. This is what we all need everyday.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 