July 22, 2016

BE HEALED, BE NEW, AND BE TRANSFORMED!

Luke 5:27–39

Brian Murray
Friday's Devo

July 22, 2016

Friday's Devo

July 22, 2016

Central Truth

No matter who you are or what you are doing, Jesus wants to call you. He uses our transformed lives to demonstrate His ministry and love for everyone. He has come to bring you a new life that can't be tainted or contained.

Key Verse | Luke 5:32

"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)

Luke 5:27–39

Jesus Calls Levi

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” 1 5:39 Some manuscripts better

Footnotes

[1] 5:39 Some manuscripts better

Dive Deeper | Luke 5:27–39

With the story of Levi, Jesus creates an opportunity to explain His ministry. He tells a man who is living a broken life, separated from and despised by the Jewish people, to follow Him. How exciting it must have been for Levi to have Jesus—a man he had probably seen perform miracles—ask him to follow Him and know Him more. In fact, Levi responds the way anyone in that situation would; he throws a party for Jesus. He invites all his friends to meet Jesus and learn about who He is.

Jesus focuses on four points and demonstrates that, through Him, we have something brand new every day, and it's Jesus. Every day, you and I, who follow Jesus like Levi, get to experience and know Him more deeply. It's always new and exciting to grow closer to Christ every day. For me, this excitement never stops. Every day is a celebration of who Jesus is. Knowing He has healed us from the disease of sin brings a celebration and creates a new life for those who follow Him. It can't be held back by old rituals and is too wonderful to be patched on to our old lives. He gives us a "robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). The truth of who Jesus is can't be contained.

We need to live like Levi and share the joy of the new life we have in Christ with all our friends—even those who don't like us—no matter how lost the world says they are. Christ can use anyone, and today He wants to use you. Will you follow Him?

Discussion Questions

1. Do you ever feel like you are so outside of church that Jesus can't use you?

2. What things are you doing today that help you mask the sin that keeps you from knowing Christ or from following Him in your daily life?

3. Is Jesus so big in your life that you can't contain it? If so, what are some ways you can celebrate what He has done in your life with your friends and foes alike? If not, what can you do to remind yourself daily of how awesome He is?