Jesus Calls

I was reading Matthew 4:18-22 this morning.  It's the account of Jesus calling the first disciples.  It's interesting that Jesus didn't put an ad in the paper or send out a survey to anticipate who might be his disciples.  Jesus called them.  He said, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."  There was something about his calling that could not be resisted.  We like to think we have a choice when it comes to responding to God's call but I'm not so sure that very often the choice has already been made.  We just follow in obedience to God's calling. 

Emmanuel

I was reading Matthew 1:18-25 this morning.  It is the account of the birth of Jesus according to Matthew.  In the passage Matthew quotes one of the prophets -- "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."  How often do we forget that God is truly with us?  It is so easy to go through the day thinking we are on our own.  This is a reminder to us all that we not only have our friends, family, and church for support, but most of all we have God with us.  Emmanuel! 

Names, Names, Names

For the month of December we will be reading the gospel of Matthew.  The first thing we encounter in Matthew is a list of names.  The first chapter gives an account of the genealogy of Jesus.  Jesus had ancestors just like us!  That means Jesus also had family problems as well!  Since God came to live among us as one of us through Jesus, then that means Jesus can identify fully with whatever we may be going through in life -- including what it is like to live in the community of a family.  Question for us to ponder -- What am I contributing to my family today?