Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Matthew 9 verses 12 to 13, but when he heard it, he said,

those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick go and learn what this means.

I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Wow, what a statement. This is Jesus speaking right after he's called Matthew,

tax collector to follow him and then has gathered at table in Matthew's house with a bunch of

other sinners and the Pharisees are critical of Jesus for gathering with this group and he looks at

them and he says those who are well have no need of a physician and he's talking about them

and not that they are actually well, but they think they're well. They think that they are

better than these tax collectors and sinners and he says, I've come for those who are sick,

for those who realize they have a sin problem and who see their need for a savior and he says,

go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous,

but sinners, there's so much that flows from this picture in Matthew chapter 9, but one particularly

way I want to encourage and challenge us is to think about who we hang around with. Jesus was known

for hanging around with sinners. He was criticized for hanging around with the spiritually sick

and if we're not careful in our lives as followers of Jesus, we can become pretty insulated from

the world around us. And there's a sense in which this is good to be around brothers and sisters

in Christ who are spurring us on toward Christ in order to be in the world, but not of the world.

We have to be careful about the people in the world who are influencing us. The Bible says that

different points come out of the world, be separate, be set apart. So yes, let's be holy

at the same time. Jesus was holy. Yet here he is spending time at table with sinners with people

most in need of God's mercy. And are you and I spending time at table? Are we spending time hosting?

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