Focus
Prepare yourself to discern what is and what is not of God today. Still yourself so you can hear how God is calling you.
Read
Luke 5:27-32 (NRSV)
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up, left everything, and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Reflect
Most Christians love the hymn “Amazing Grace.” We sing, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” To be saved does not mean to be a little comforted or encouraged. To experience grace is to be held close to the heart of God every moment, as an infant is wrapped close to the mother’s heart where there is comfort, safety, nurture, and love.
In both the Old and New Testaments, the Hebrew and Greek words usually translated as grace imply a kind turning of one person to another in an act of assistance. God’s covenant grace also implies God turning to us daily in gracious kindness. Repentance is about our turning to God for forgiveness and healing.
The parables and gentle invitations of Jesus illustrate this quality of gracious kindness as turning to God to experience goodness and grace. Thus, we are on solid ground when we pray: It is by the grace of God that we are saved and kept close throughout our life. The disciples and the crowds who followed Jesus saw the grace of God shining through his gentle, gracious words and actions. Can there be any doubt that Jesus lived and taught that we are saved and held by God’s grace?
Pray
Thank you, God, for your amazing grace. Help me to share your grace with each person I meet in my daily activities. Amen.
Go with God.
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