June 22: Luke 15:1-7
 
Key Verse: Luke 15:2
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’
 
Devotion:
Jesus was like no other man! We speak of Christ as being the Son of God and we praise Him for all the things He has done and has promised to do. We sing of His miracles and want to tell people about all the things we have learned from our bibles... but Jesus the man was not like any men of that time.
 
The Western World paints a picture of Jesus as being a tall white man with a big beard and wearing white robes. Well, that certainly would have made Him different from any other man at the time! But Jesus was a local man, born of a local woman – which means He probably looked like one of the local men. But that is where the similarities ended.
 
Jesus did not act like the men of the time because so many of them had become corrupted by pride, greed and general lack of respect for God. They thought more of their own rules and ways of living than of God’s ways. When Jesus stepped out and visited the sinners around Him, it was not to become a sinner but to show them God loved them just as much as He loves those who were trying to follow God’s will in their lives.
 
God wants us to love our neighbours. That may mean stopping what we are doing and stepping forward to do something for someone else who others are turning away from. God wants us to step out and reach for the one person who is lost. Jesus wants us to break with our safe ways and step into the unknown with Him. He loves us all. He wants us all to love one another. Sometimes it will look like we are mixing with the wrong people...
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to help everyone?
 
Will you step out of your comfort zone and help someone in need today?