Party Time
Opening Prayer
Friend of sinners, thank You that You have accepted me and that You love me. Thank You for Jesus’ life given for me.
Read LUKE 5:27-32
[27] After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, [28] and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. [29] Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. [30] But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” [31] Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [32] I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What did your life look like when you first met the Lord?After responding to Jesus’ call, Levi’s first priority is to make sure that as many of his acquaintances as possible have the opportunity to meet Jesus for themselves. So he throws a party (29). Jesus has brought great change to his life, and he wants others to be able to share in that. Levi has just made the decision to leave his job as a tax collector, but he does not want to turn his back on his tax collector friends.Some of us feel as though we spend our lives at the “tax booth”: living in a secular bubble and only escaping briefly on Sundays to enjoy the company of Jesus’ followers. But for others of us the challenge is to maintain relationships with non-Christians rather than keeping a distance from them the way the Pharisees seem to have done. It is important that we spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are able to encourage and challenge one another in our walk with the Lord. But it is also important to nurture relationships with those who are not Christians. What a great privilege it is for us to be able to introduce Jesus to those who have never met him.
Apply
Ask the Lord to show you if there are ways you could help those who don’t know Jesus to encounter him.
Closing prayer
Jesus, thank You for those who faithfully told me about Your love and demonstrated the reality of You.
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