THE HEALTHY AND THE SICK

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. But go learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:9-13

Back in those days, tax collectors were seen as bad. They were Jewish people who collected taxes from their own people for the Roman Empire. The tax collectors would also often overcharge people and would take the excess, making themselves wealthy at the expense of their people. That’s why they were lumped with sinners.

But even though those people were tax collectors and sinners, Jesus still went to them to change their lives for the better, just as He has for so many of us from the past, present, and will in the future.

What Jesus meant by, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Is that we who are righteous, don’t need to be saved by Jesus because we already have been. But those who sinners haven’t been saved need to be told the good news, to hear about Jesus. I mean, if we’re not sick or injured, why would we see a doctor? But if we are, then, in most cases,  we would see a doctor.

Don’t be afraid to come to Him. He is more trustworthy than anyone on this earth. He’s the one who literally died hanging on a cross for you. It’s okay if you make mistakes or have problems. Because Jesus wasn’t looking for the healthy. He was looking for the sick.

Kai

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you probably see other people at least once a week.

Maybe you see some of them consistently. Maybe you consider yourself friends with some of

them. We are supposed to spread the gospel and witness to others, of course, and that requires

being friendly with people, but being too friendly with un-saved people can be very dangerous.

This may seem like an exaggeration, but it isn’t.

Friends will influence your life and you may not even realize how they’re influencing you. This

could include how you spend your free time, how you speak, or how you dress. Solomon, who

was likely the wisest human being to ever live (in exception to Jesus, of course), fell to idolatry

because of who he surrounded himself with, and the kingdom of Israel split in two.

It’s easy to think,

‘Well, if we become friends, then I can help him/her with their sin’

. It’s a

mistake. You are a sinful human with a sin nature, meaning that if you become closely

associated with somebody who is clearly living in a way they shouldn’t, they are almost

guaranteed to drag you down instead.

Now, you may be thinking,

‘Well Jesus ate dinner with a bunch of not-so-nice people’

. Yes. Key

words ‘ate dinner’

. Jesus wasn’t afraid to be kind to or talk to a bunch of ‘not-so-nice people’

,

but do you see Jesus making a known criminal one of his disciples (yes, Judas stole money and

later betrayed Jesus, but that would likely be an entire other paper on Jesus’ behavior)? No. Did

he still love and care about the thief on the cross? He did.

That’s the key: you can, and should, still care about, be polite, kind, etc. to other people, even if

they’re not saved, but don’t surround yourself with them. You will come to regret it eventually.

Your friends are some of the biggest influences in your life, so make sure they’re good influence.

-John

Fruit of The Spirit, Part 4-Longsuffering (Patience)

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Patience is one of the hardest things to practice, whether it’s focusing on a hard project, teaching a young child, or even just putting up with some people. Whenever you are having a hard time being patient, remember how patient God is.

Many times in the bible, God keeps giving second chances to many people, including the Jews, and many other people, including Paul the apostle. Paul was persecuting and arresting Christians, but God gave him a second chance, and he trusted Christ as his savior, and was able to do so much for God.

He has patience with us as well, and even though we do some pretty stupid things, and he always gives his children so many chances to follow him.

-Natalia