At the Receipt of Custom 9/28

At the Receipt of Custom

Levi sat at his tax booth. Coins clinked on the table. People passed by, clutching their purses and looking at him with disgust. He was a traitor working for Rome, a man nobody trusted or wanted. Then Jesus came. He did not cross the road to avoid Levi. He walked straight up to the booth. While everybody else saw a crooked tax collector, Jesus saw a man He came to save.

Jesus knows exactly where you are. He can find you on a jobsite, behind a desk, alone in your truck, or sitting at a kitchen table after everyone else has gone to bed. He can find you in the place where you have spent years thinking no one would stay if they knew your story. Jesus already knows your story, and He has not walked past you.

He sees you not for what you have done, but for what His grace can do. He does not wait for you to get your reputation straightened out. The Savior comes walking while the sinner is sitting still. Where in your life do you feel unseen, and will you believe that Jesus sees you there?

“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.” (Luke 5:27)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to help you see yourself through His eyes of grace, not through your own shame.

Challenge: Identify one place you feel unworthy and say aloud, “Jesus sees me here.”

To listen to the sermon that corresponds with this devotion, click the link: https://www.mbcpb.org/media