November 22, 2020 7:00 pm
He was an aging military veteran, rough-edged and given to even rougher language. One day a friend cared enough about him to inquire about his spiritual beliefs. The man’s dismissive response came quickly: “God doesn’t have space for someone like me.”
Perhaps that was just part of his “tough-guy” act, but his words couldn’t be further from the truth! God creates space especially for the rough, the guilt-ridden, and the excluded to belong and thrive in His community. This was obvious from the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, when He made some surprising choices for His disciples. First, He chose several fishermen from Galilee—the “wrong side of the tracks” from the perspective of those in Jerusalem. He also selected a tax collector, Matthew, whose profession included extorting from his oppressed countrymen. Then, for good measure, Jesus invited the “other” Simon—“the Zealot” (Mark 3:18).
We don’t know much about this Simon (he isn’t Simon Peter), but we do know about the Zealots. They hated traitors like Matthew, who got rich by collaborating with the despised Romans. Yet with divine irony, Jesus chose Simon along with Matthew, brought them together, and blended them into His team.
Don’t write anyone off as too “bad” for Jesus. After all, He said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). He has plenty of space for the tough cases—people like you and me.
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Welcome to today's devotional from Our Daily Bread.
It's entitled Space for Me, and it was written by Tim Gustafson. He was an aging military veteran, rough-edged and given to even rougher language. One day, a friend cared enough about him to inquire about his spiritual beliefs. The man's dismissive response came quickly, God doesn't have space for someone like me.
Perhaps this was just part of his tough guy act, but his words couldn't be further from the truth. God creates space, especially for the rough, the guilt-ridden, and the excluded to belong and thrive in his community. This was obvious from the beginning of Jesus' ministry when he made some surprising choices for his disciples. First, he chose several fishermen from Galilee, the wrong side of the tracks from the perspective of those in Jerusalem.
He also selected a tax collector, Matthew, whose profession included extorting from his oppressed countrymen. Then, for good measure, Jesus invited the other Simon, the zealot. We don't know much about this Simon, but we do know about the zealots.
They hated traitors like Matthew, who got rich by collaborating with the despised Romans. Yet, with divine irony, Jesus chose Simon along with Matthew, brought them together, and blended them into his team. Don't write anyone off as too bad for Jesus. After all, he said in Luke chapter 5, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
He has plenty of space for the tough cases, people like you and me. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Mark chapter 3, verses 13 through 19. Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed. Now let's pray. In your gracious name that we pray, amen.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-25 19:59:56 / 2024-01-25 20:01:13 / 1
