When God Says …
“And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him.” (Luke 5:27-28 KJV).
These texts follow through the Lord’s trail after the healing of the paralytic man and the ensuing awe of the crowd of witnesses. Blown away by what they just experienced in the Lord’s work of wonder, the crowd were feverish with excitement. While the Lord Jesus went forth to His continuing work of miracles, forgiving sins and transforming lives by grace wherever and whenever His presence is. Then He saw a publican working for the Romans as a tax collector. This word “saw” in the Greek text means: to wonder; to behold; to contemplate; to view attentively. It is giving regard to the object by deep sense of observation and keen interest. It involves beyond seeing and watching, it is noticing, recognizing, and taking note of something with reflection and acute importance.
It is the kind of sight that the Lord sets on Levi - who is also called Matthew the tax collector, doing his job collecting money from his fellow Jews for remittance to their foreign occupiers. The job is viewed with very low regard by many, especially the religious Jews. He and his fellow tax collectors are cast as sinners along with prostitutes, robbers and other offenders of the law of Moses which were selectively adopted by the religious leaders for their religious doctrines. This is the place where Matthew was, sitting at his collection booth, when the Lord Jesus behold and beckon on him to come, “follow me.” And, he left all, rose up and follow the Lord.
The echo of this call is a personal call upon us too, as we now reflect on these verses this very moment. The person of Grace and Truth- Christ Jesus our Lord, invites you and I to follow Him and leave everything we believed and harbored as important before we heard the Truth. Grace and Truth set us loose from those bondage of wrong believing that held us blinded and captive. It’s time to leave it behind, like Levi leaving his job, and truly follow our Lord Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is our only way. In one occasion, “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:5-6 ESV).
And I say, AMEN!
Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries
When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.
Partners For Christ Ministries, INC
P. O. Box 773716
Ocala, FL 34477
Touching lives in Cambodia, The Philippines, The Middle East, The USA, and... other countries.
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