Jesus, Friend of Sinners
Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.” Luke 5:31-32
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Isn’t it great that our lives don’t have to be fixed up, patched up, and cleaned up to have a relationship with Jesus? He came to call people who were broken and needy and whose lives were a mess to turn from their sins. He didn’t have time for the self-righteous Pharisees, who thought they were already good enough and had no need of what he offered: a brand-new life and salvation from their sins. He was reaching out to those who were humble enough to honestly admit their need.
When Christ calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light, he wants us to tell others that there is hope for them. If a great doctor’s skills had healed us of a life-threatening illness, we wouldn’t fail to share the source of our health and the name of the doctor with those who are still suffering. We have a great physician, a savior who has transformed and healed our lives. Ask God to give you his heart to see people set free from their sins and sorrows and to renew your desire to tell others of his life-changing power. Then be his willing vessel to a waiting world, the largest intensive-care unit in the universe.
Prayers:
LORD, thank you for shedding your light on my life to show me that I needed you, the Great Physician, to heal my woundedness. Thank you for calling me to repent and to come to you and for your tender mercies in my life. Jesus, give me your heart for those who are hurting, sick, and lost in sin, just as your heart reached out to me in my time of greatest need.
Quotes:
God expects of us only what he has himself first supplied. He is quick to mark every simple effort to please him, and just as quick to overlook imperfections when he knows we meant to do his will.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Deuteronomy 2:1–3:29; Luke 6:12-38; Psalm 67:1-7 and Proverbs 11:27.
