Have I Got A Place For You

Mat 9:9 NASB

(9)  As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.

Matthew was a tax collector.  He was sitting in the tax collector’s booth taking money.  Tax collectors would collect taxes for the Roman Empire and anything they collected above the Roman requirement they kept. 

This week let’s look at the type of person Jesus calls.  What do we know about Matthew?  First, he is hated.  He is collecting and taking money for the Roman Empire, the very government who is oppressing Israel at this time.  Second, he undoubtedly is doing a very good job.  He is diligent or persistent in his work.  One could say he is a go getter.  He must have had a remarkable work ethic.  Whether or not you agree with his work he was doing a great job doing his work.  So much so, that Jesus noticed him and said, “follow me”.

Follow me.  Jesus is basically saying come with me; I would like to get to know you.  Jesus wants an intimate relationship with everyone He calls.  Jesus saw the persistence that Matthew exhibited in his work and immediately saw a place for him in His ministry.  Matthew’s skills at record keeping and his persistence to do a job well made him the obvious choice to write the entire account of Jesus’ life.

Matthew dropped everything and followed Jesus.  He finally had someone show an interest in him.  He had no friends and what was he losing, better yet, what was he gaining.

Jesus calls us to get to know us.  He has a place for us to serve.  Isn’t it amazing that Jesus saw us and thought, “ I want to get to that person, I have a place for them.”

If you don’t know Jesus, He wants to get to know you.  He has a place where you can serve.

If you know Jesus as your personal savior seek out that special purpose which Jesus has only for you.  When you find it do like Matthew – Diligently work for Him.

Find someone to witness to this week.