Go and Learn What This Means

I love reading Jesus Stories in the Bible. I am reading Matthew right now and Jesus is hanging out with pre-Christian people - the ones that religious people won't touch with a 10 foot pole - and actually eating and having a party with them. Jesus isn't there by Himself, he has some of His disciples with him and they are out enjoying the company of these people who are not yet connected to God. As I read the Scriptures I see that there were some religious people that Jesus got along with - like Nicodemus because he was searching for the Kingdom of God, but there were many others that Jesus couldn't stand because they thought religion was the way to God.

So these religious leaders find out that Jesus and His cronies are hanging out with the "wrong" people - and that just looks bad. I've run into that before. Religious people trying to do the religious thing don't want their religious family and or friends hanging out with "sinners" because their family or friends may get defiled.

So Jesus catches wind that these religious leaders don't think hanging out with these people is a good thing and basically tells them off in a nice way. He told them to "Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

I figure there are 4 camps one can be in.

1. You are religious and have no non-Christian friends and can't stand being around people who smoke, drink, cuss and other stuff. They're sinners and deserve to die.

2. You are a Believer, and have non-Christian friends that you hang out with, but don't know how to bring Jesus into your conversations.

3. You are a Believer that hangs out with non-Christians because you love being around them, and they are attracted to the Jesus you represent.

4. You are not yet a a follower of Jesus Christ.

If you in camp 1, please take a look at the Scriptures and realize that disenfranchising yourself from people not connected with God is not healthy at all, and you may be on the road to making sure some people will never enter the Kingdom of God. Start being more like people in camp 3.

If you are in Camp 2, start spending more time with Jesus. Jesus will start rubbing off on you and pre-Christians are attracted to Jesus, they just aren't attracted to church because of people in Camp 1.

If you are in Camp 4 and have been hurt by people in camp 1, please accept my most sincerest apologies. Just try this, I know it will seem silly, or you may not want to do it because of past experiences with "Christians", but ask God to bring somebody into your life who can introduce you to the Real Jesus. If you have a Bible - I know this is asking a lot - but try reading the Book of John, it is the 4th book in the New Testament in the Bible. If you want to start reading it right now, just click here.

You see, Jesus was The Sacrifice. He did it all to bring people not connected with God into a relationship with Him so they could find fulfillment and start their lives over again. He wants to give you purpose and joy in your life - in both the good times and the bad times, and He does this through His mercy. I am trying more to work on the mercy part, but it's coming...slowly. Just remember that mercy is not getting what we deserve.