Matthew 9:9-15New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Calls Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12 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.”
Dear Father, When you call to me, I hear you. You have asked me to follow you. You have asked me to get to know you. I did not know you very well when I first believed, but as I grow in my faith and belief, I am knowing you better and better all the time. When I know you, I want to be like you. When I was down and out and did not know you, you found me. Thank you. In Jesus’ Name I Pray, Amen.
