Post by foxjj on Jan 19, 2024 8:05:04 GMT
The Call Of Levi
Once I was known as Levi the tax collector, and lived in Capernaum, situated in the lower Galilee district, north of Jerusalem. Because of my occupation, people avoided me saying I was a publican, which in their eyes made me a sinner, making my circle of friends small. Arriving at a village I would open up the tax booth, which would be situated on the side of the road. Here villagers and travelers would come and begrudgingly pay their taxes.
One day there was much commotion with people rushing past my booth, saying to one another: "Look, he is coming to our village." Asking a passerby whom it was that was coming, I received the answer: "The Rabbi from Nazareth." Curious, I watched from my booth as people went out from the village towards a small group of approaching travellers. It was soon obvious who among the travellers was the Rabbi in the way the excited people gathered around him. To my surprise he approached my booth, and looking straight at me, invited me to follow him. From among all of the gathered people, He chose me, a sinner and a tax collector, to follow Him. His voice was gentle but strong, it is a voice I will forever follow.
That night Jesus came to dine at my home. When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked why He would eat with sinners, Jesus answered them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”- Matthew 9:12-13.
After meeting Jesus I am now a new man, and people no longer call me Levi the tax collector. I am now know as Matthew, a follower of Jesus the Christ. After all that has transpired, I have an urgency to put down a record, and so, with writing material in front of me, I begin: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham _ _ _ _" - Matthew chapter 1.
Today, let us give thanks for the calling to follow Jesus.
John Joseph Fox.
Once I was known as Levi the tax collector, and lived in Capernaum, situated in the lower Galilee district, north of Jerusalem. Because of my occupation, people avoided me saying I was a publican, which in their eyes made me a sinner, making my circle of friends small. Arriving at a village I would open up the tax booth, which would be situated on the side of the road. Here villagers and travelers would come and begrudgingly pay their taxes.
One day there was much commotion with people rushing past my booth, saying to one another: "Look, he is coming to our village." Asking a passerby whom it was that was coming, I received the answer: "The Rabbi from Nazareth." Curious, I watched from my booth as people went out from the village towards a small group of approaching travellers. It was soon obvious who among the travellers was the Rabbi in the way the excited people gathered around him. To my surprise he approached my booth, and looking straight at me, invited me to follow him. From among all of the gathered people, He chose me, a sinner and a tax collector, to follow Him. His voice was gentle but strong, it is a voice I will forever follow.
That night Jesus came to dine at my home. When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked why He would eat with sinners, Jesus answered them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”- Matthew 9:12-13.
After meeting Jesus I am now a new man, and people no longer call me Levi the tax collector. I am now know as Matthew, a follower of Jesus the Christ. After all that has transpired, I have an urgency to put down a record, and so, with writing material in front of me, I begin: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham _ _ _ _" - Matthew chapter 1.
Today, let us give thanks for the calling to follow Jesus.
John Joseph Fox.