Why Do Spend Time With Sinners? (Daily Devotional)

Hello and welcome to Living supernaturally. We hope you’ve been having a good day so far. Thank you for tuning in and for joining in this study of God’s word. His word is so interesting, some of the things/ instances we see are very interesting and especially we have been looking at some of the questions that people asked the Lord Jesus and the response of the Lord, and we’ve been learning some truths from that.

Today, we are going to look at one such question that they asked. It was a collective group of scribes and pharisees, and they asked the Lord Jesus and the Lord’s response to that. We see this in Luke chapter 5, and we can read from verse 29 onwards, ‘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.”

Here we see this scenario where there is a great feast and lots of people and among them tax collectors and people who you would call sinners because of their reputation; and the Lord Jesus sitting and fellowshipping with them and having a meal with them. The pharisees and scribes complain saying ‘why is this Teacher and doer of miracles sitting with sinners and people of such reputation.’ The Lord answered and said, ‘those who are well don’t need a doctor but those who are sick definitely need, I have come to call the sinners to repentance.’ A similar instance we see in Luke chapter 15, verses 1 to 3, where tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him and the pharisees and scribes complain saying this man receive sinners and eats with them. So, He spoke this parable to them saying and we see in three parables the Lord shared- the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost son and in all these three parables there is something that was lost- the coin, the sheep and a son who went astray and they were found/ brought back and what we see is great rejoicing over that. Bible records that there is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents - this is God’s heart.

The Lord Jesus is an express image of the Father and what He did, what He said was something that reflected God’s heart. So, we see here that this is God’s heart – to seek the lost, to save the lost, and to rejoice over every sinner who repents, over every person who is lost and who is found. So, this is our learning and application that we need to have the same perspective and the same heart of compassion for those who are lost and the same celebration and rejoicing when they repent and come back home. So, know the Father’s heart and let’s live each day delighting the Father’s heart.

Let’s pray, Father, we thank you that even as studied this instance we see that your heart for the poor, for those who are lost and for sinners. Father, we thank you that you love the sinner, and we thank you that you reach out to the sinner, and you come to seek and save the lost. May we have the same heart of compassion and same eyes and heart that you have even as we live life daily. We thank you, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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