Read Luke 5:27-28
Discover
1. What general feeling did people have toward tax collectors in Jesus’ day and why? What would be a similar occupation today?
2. What strategy did Jesus use in convincing Levi to follow Him?
3. What is the significance of Levi’s response to Jesus? What is he leaving behind?
Respond
1. Give some honest thought right now to a person or group of people you don’t easily identify with or even automatically dislike and dismiss because of their profession, their lifestyle, or their beliefs. Confess those feelings to God now and ask Him to soften your heart to all people, giving you understanding and empathy.
2. Put yourself in the place of Levi for a minute. What might God be asking you to leave behind to follow Him wholeheartedly? Spend some time now laying down old habits, thought patterns, or ways of doing things, and allow Jesus to close the gap between you and a life of peace and hope with Him.
For Further Learning: Watch this clip of the calling of Levi from the series The Chosen.
For Families with Kids at Home
Today, spend time praying for your kids—that as they grow, pleasing God would be more important to them than anything else.