Can a Christian be out of peace? Yesterday I thought I lost peace after finding that some important documents seemed lost/misplaced. This morning I spent time in front of the Lord and praised Him. Then I read the Bible verses that opened in front of me as I sat on the floor. Jesus spoke: “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then He got up and rebuked the wind and waves. and suddenly there was a great calm. (Matthew 8:26) As I prayed in the Spirit interspersed with understanding and admitted my weakness I perceived the calm that I had lost in the storm. It is now a pleasant morning with the Lord’s presence. The "lost" documents no longer bothered me. (Looking back in 2025, indeed they are no longer important!)
Then I continued to read the passage all the way to chapter nine. I was further touched by the following record of a conversation between Jesus and Matthew. Yes. The bible did not record what Matthew had said to the Lord. But when I read the passage I realized what he had said and the Lord had heard and answered.
Jesus was saying that Matthew was a sinner and was like a sick person. He needed help. Jesus offered him what he needed. What did Matthew say?
Matthew said yes to Jesus. “Yes, I will follow you. Yes, I am a sick person who needs to be healed. Yes I am a sinner who needs to be saved and delivered. Yes, Jesus, You can heal me. You can save me. You can make me into a new person. Yes, I believe You. Yes, come to my home. Yes, I am inviting all my colleagues and friends so they too can receive help from You. Thank You for stopping for me, taking the bother to talk to me, offering me a new beginning, giving me a new life. Yes, I am willing. Yes, I come, just as I am. Yes, I repent. Yes, Lord I know I am a sinner.”
Matthew 9:9-13 New King James Version (NKJV)
Matthew the Tax Collector
9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’[a] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”[b]
Footnotes:
[a] Matthew 9:13 Hosea 6:6
[b] Matthew 9:13 NU-Text omits to repentance.
New Living Translation Matthew 9:13
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Note: this was posted in my other blog on 2016-04-28. It suddenly reappeared today. So I decided to repost it here.
