Could Matthew be any cooler? I was a nerd and I added up all the verses in the three chapters we read today. Guess how many it was? 101. Of those 101 verses, ONE was dedicated to Matthew’s commitment to following the Lord. I love Matthew for this…“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” The beautiful thing about this is the frank language…“so he got up and followed him.” I’m picturing a current-day Matthew and he’s the guy who wears hiking boots and puffy vests wherever he goes in case nature beckons him. He’s got a scruffy beard, as do all whimsical adventurers. He marches to the beat of his own drum and he just keeps marching until the next voyage approaches him. That’s how my head wants to draw him because I want to believe he was the unique one; and his leap of faith to join Jesus’ Holy squad was the award-winning performance in this scripture but I had my eyes opened to something today.
While Matthew’s commitment was a notable act of faith and a great example of the attitude we should have in following Christ, I think Jesus is the big deal here. Jesus is the adventurer. He was the one marching to the beat of His own drum. He was intriguing…unique, captivating, confident, righteous—but in an unassuming way. Who wouldn’t have joined his team? I’m sure there are some of you who prefer to live a little on the safe side [you like marching to the beat of Jesus Loves Me in your own living room] and you’re not identifying with my attraction to Jesus’ individuality in relationship to that era…but stick with me for another minute.
I asked God to reveal something new to me today before I started reading in Matthew and as I flipped the pages through the miracles that Jesus performed, I thought of the lost that witnessed Jesus on that day…the awe, the wonder, the hope they must’ve felt as Jesus redeemed the discouraged and sick and as he washed away polluted pasts. How relieved were they when they heard that God was so accessible to them…“Ask and you shall receive?” It is so wonderful that we serve a God that knows our hearts so well -- that understands the depth of humanity and our need for Him. I know He chose to send Jesus Christ to earth with the ability to heal and inspire and redeem so that people would look to the Father and want to know Him.
Jesus isn’t walking the earth anymore “proving” the power and love of God but he left us here with his adventurous Holy Spirit. I know that if our lives were revealing the same God that Jesus’ was, the lost would be asking who He was and they would feel that same promise of love, acceptance, and deliverance. They would believe it when we told them that when our God walked the earth He said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Jenna Trapasso
February 17
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Wow, I love the last paragraph of what Jenna said. If we allow the Holy Spirit to live through us in all His glory, people will be drawn to us just as they were Him, because it is HIM they are seeing. Lord, let me get out of your way and let others see you when they even glance my direction!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenna. This was a very inciteful post.
ReplyDeleteThank you ministers and elders for coming up with this 99 day schedule and associated blog. I finally feel like I've found a schedule that I can stick with. The blog is a nice enhancement that I look forward to reading each day.
Great thoughts, Jenna. Several months ago, I asked God to give me a picture of Jesus that I could think about each time He came to mind. Your description has added another whole layer to that picture in my head. Thanks!
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