Determined To Receive

Luke 5:27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

I love the simplicity that we see in these verses.......

Three of the Gospel Writers record Matthew’s call and they all record it with the same Simplicity.....

Jesus said to Levi (Matthew) Follow Me....and he left all, rose up, and followed Him.....

Matthew must have been a Man who KNEW what he wanted in life.....

He just HEARD the INVITATION and OFF HE GOES......

You may be thinking "well maybe it’s because he recognized who Jesus is and How much he needed Him"

I’m sure he did.....

We do have to Recognize our need.....

and We have to Recognize the FACT that He is the ONLY one who can Meet Our Need....

but those things ALONE doesn’t move most people.....

Let’s read on farther in Luke 5:29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Those scribes and Pharisees knew better than anyone else what Paul quoted in Romans 3:10 ....there is none righteous, no, not one.

But they weren’t willing to LEAVE what they WANTED to get what they needed.....

They didn’t WANT Better ENOUGH to MOTIVATE them to ACTION....

Someone said "Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die"

....."Everybody wants to walk on the water but Nobody wants to get out of the boat"

BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.....

Folks can tell you that Jesus is the Son of God....

that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world....

They’ll say "I KNOW I NEED to......"

but MOST of them aren’t doing anything about it.....

Recognizing Jesus as the Saviour is PART of it....

Recognizing Our NEED is PART of it....

but the THING that made the difference .....was...

MATTHEW’S DESIRE for SOMETHING BETTER was Bigger than what he left behind....

Matthew not only recognized his own need....but he determined to DO SOMETHING about it.....

That’s the difference between those who RECEIVE what they need from God and Those who don’t......

It’s in the Determination to Do Whatever it takes to Get what you Want from God.....

Matthew’s Determination Super ceded Everything Else in his life.....

and that’s WHY you know his story 2000 years later.....

In John 5 the Bible tells about a lame man......

38 years he’d been Unable to walk.....

I don’t know HOW long he’d been in that spot.....

but the Bible says that he’d been there a LONG TIME......

He was just hanging out Doing what all the other sick folk were doing......

I’ve often wondered WHY that man, in all the time he’d been there waiting couldn’t get to that pool....

...seems like if you just moved a little each day....you could have gotten to the edge of that pool......

but he’d been there a LONG TIME.....

Sounds like some church folks doesn’t it? I shall not be, I shall not be moved....

Maybe he could have done better....maybe not......

But NONE of that mattered on the Day that Jesus came by and Called On him.....

You need to know today....that.......

When you Come to Jesus.....What’s in your past is past.....as far as He’s concerned.....

He doesn’t Hold a Grudge against you.....

There are without a doubt things that EVERY ONE of us COULD have and SHOULD have done different.....

but I’m glad God’s Grace is Sufficient today......

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

The Amplified Translations says it like this.....

Do you want to become well? Are you really in earnest about getting well?

The Question We have to answer is not Do you want things to be BETTER?

If I were to ask for a show of hands for WHO wants a BETTER LIFE?

Surely everyone in here would raise their hand.....

The Real Question is ARE we Serious Enough to Go After Him to get it.....

If we want SERIOUS CHANGE.....we’ve got to get Serious in our Approach......

Psalms 107:23-24 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.