"A Hole Too Deep"

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:9-12 NIV).

Have you ever thought you had done something so bad that it was irreparable? Have you ever felt that you were too far gone to ever retrace your steps and recover from your errors? Have you ever thought that you were in a hole too deep to dig out from? Perhaps you have never had such a deeply troubling experience that you could answer yes to these questions, but you may have thought that there is some decision you have made that disqualified you from being everything God desire for you to be. This devotional is for you!

I would worry about you if you didn’t feel at least some unworthiness before God. If you felt you life was so good that you really could stand before God without any need for His grace that would be troubling indeed. The truth is that all of us need God’s forgiveness and love, at some times more than others. This is certainly what Jesus meant when He said He came to “call” the sinners in our reading today. It is to people like you and me that Jesus came. People who have been “scuffed up” by life a little. We are not perfect, but we can be perfected through Him.

That’s the testimony of Scripture. Martin Luther wrote the following speaking of this principle:

"Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much. Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort. Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death. No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again."

There is not a hole too deep that Jesus cannot save you! Reach out to Him and you will find His hand in yours to help you out!