October 22: Luke 5 27-32

Key Verse: Luke 5 31
Jesus answered them, “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

Devotion:
When Jesus called Levi the tax collector to come and follow Him, it may well have raised a few eyebrows in the local community; after all this was a tax collector who was being asked to follow Jesus! Levi threw a great party for Jesus at his own house and, of course, many other tax collectors and local people were there to ‘help’ celebrate the party. Yes, they were probably there for the party and not for the reason we can see…

The Pharisees and teaches of the law were the first to complain that all the wrong people were at the party! They expected more of their own kind to be there to make it a religious event, after all Levi was being called to follow Christ! But Jesus was the one to rebuke their reaction and show them the real reason why He allowed the party to go ahead. These tax collectors and their people were the reason why God chose Levi – to reach out into the tax collector community and give them the chance to turn to God!

Far too often we are like the Pharisees and do not invite the people who need Christ the most to our parties! In a couple of weeks’ time we open our doors and invite the whole community to a celebration feast “sausage soup and sparklers” where we give out food and try to engage with as many people as we can – the people who need Christ the most! This is just a part of our ministry to the people on the most needy estate in the capital and we enjoy sharing what we do to encourage people and show them there is hope even when all around them is breaking down.

Christ wants each of us to go out and invite the most needy people into His church. This is not an invitation to a religious institution but an invitation to get to know Christ on a personal level, one which will allow them to see His grace and mercy and show them how much hope there really is in His Church.

Points to Ponder:
Do you follow religious rules?

Are you willing to set them aside and follow Christ’s requests?