“Sitting At the Tax Office” (Luke 5:27-29)

“After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.“ (vs27-29)

First, it doesn't matter what we're doing or how evil we are; when God CALLS in the Man Christ, we come to Him. He says, “Follow me”, and we drop everything, follow Him, and become His eternally.

We can't tell when this happened always: it may be imperceptible to us. But, if we're called, a time came when we forsook every other idea and ambition, and we plunged into the fount of His blood and the water of His word. We became His, and He was our everything.

Secondly, the call is not for all, in the sense that all don't experience it; it is OUTSIDE of us, the miracle of God, which makes us want Him. He makes us SEE urgency and sweetness in Him, so that we bind ourselves by faith, trusting His word alone (Gen 25:58).

The God of glory gives the call to His elect, chosen before hand (Acts 10:40-41). He conquers our wickedness, and this is the hope we have for others, that God and not man will decide for them, and that God is giving men life by the word.

It takes opened eyes to see God willing and giving, and this is what the paralyzed man's friends saw. They knew that getting him to Jesus was the hope they had. They RIGHTFULLY hoped that Jesus would help, and He did - “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." (Luke 5:17-20). We are the same when we bring men to Christ in prayer and obedience. We ask Him to save, knowing that His willingness and power is glorified in sinner's salvation. It is wise to believe God is good and look to Him continually (Ezek 37:10; 2 Kings 2:14).

Thirdly, this forgiveness and cleansing is newness of love. We are not hypocrites, snobs, and protestors against people. We are saviors of sinners, merciful, holy, and kind (James 5:20). We are members of Christ and on His mission. He works through us now the way He worked on earth, loving and helping others know God - “Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance"(Luke 5:29-32).

This inheritance is given of God's goodness, and He makes us good thereby.