Pimp My Ride

However, what you need to see is Levi’s call: what it was and what it was not. Jesus did not hire Levi for a job, nor did He try to recruit him to some ministry. Jesus simply called Levi to follow Him, and the answer was yes. That’s just what Jesus is looking for in your life. “God, what do you want me to do?” “Where do you want me to go?” “What do you want me to be?” “Where do I turn now?” Those are really all the wrong questions. Jesus called Levi to follow Him, and there was no question; there was only “yes.”

We ask all these questions when what we really want is a road map. Jesus doesn’t offer a road map. He invites you to play Follow The Leader, and He has picked you to play. Some of you remember what it was like to always get picked last for a game. You hung on the fence just waiting, hoping that you’d get picked. Levi walked in those shoes long before you did. He knew the shame and reproach that came with his life, but in gentle terms Jesus reached out and said, “I choose you. Now you follow me.”

Hey, I wasn’t a pimp when Jesus called me to follow Him, but I felt like I wasn’t worthy – that somehow I didn’t measure up. And because I felt that way I thought that God ought to look for someone else to do His work. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day knew that Levi was unworthy to serve. He was a crook; a social nobody, and here is Jesus building His first church from these kinds of people.

Today God has walked into your life, at your receipt of custom and is inviting you to follow Him. You too may feel like your past keeps you from doing so. You have issues to work through first. You have too much baggage. There’s that divorce, that drug problem you used to have, those emotional scars that still hurt after all these years. You’ve not been the Christian you should have been, don’t know the Bible like you ought to, and a thousand other things – but listen to me: all they are are excuses. Don’t let them stand in the way of following Christ and enjoying the full life He has for you.

Conclusion

Jesus wants to pimp your ride today, to take your disrepair and bring healing and hope. He will take your broken and battered and make it whole. He’ll take your sin and shame, or your prideful heart and transform you into a customized showpiece that, running up and down the road of life will bring great glory to God! In short, Jesus wants to take the old and make it new. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.”

Jesus wants to save you today. Would you let Him? Would you acknowledge your need of salvation before Him, repent and call on Him for mercy? You can fix up the outside of your ride all you want; you can customize the interior issues of your life – but until you’ve been brought to life by the Spirit of God your work is in vain. Would you be saved today?

Jesus wants to fellowship with you – to feast with you – but He’s waiting for you. Forget what others might say. Forget that there will be critics. There will always be critics. Make a choice today to live in the presence of Christ and bring all your friends: the pimps and prostitutes and other sinners you know and let them experience the fullness of life Christ offers. Come today and invite Jesus to celebrate His life with yours.