MONDAY, JUNE 17
Scripture: Ephesians 1:6; Acts 1:12-14, Matthew 10:3

We are looking at the issue of acceptance and accepting our place in God’s Family. We can benefit from looking at some of the people who God chose. That will give us a broad picture of who God chooses and what the common characteristics are. The author of the first Gospel of the New Testament is Matthew. He is a classic example of who God chooses. We find him mentioned for the very last time in Acts 1:12-14. We are told, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Here we have the Twelve, plus the additional people that numbered up to 120. They were gathered there to be empowered on the day of Pentecost. This is the same Matthew that was a tax collector. When he was taking his place in God’s Family that was full of Jewish people, he was seen as a traitor among them. He worked for the Roman government and collected taxes from his own people. He was an agent of Rome to extort. Most often, tax collectors made their money by adding a percentage to what they claimed people owed. What kind of reputation did he probably have? He was likely despised. But who does God accept? God accepts people based on their heart, often who are misunderstood, misperceived and rejected by the majority.