God's undivided attention.
What would it look like if God showed you personal attention? How would it feel for God to sit down with you and give you the time of day and his undivided attention? What would that do for you? How might that impact you? Would you want God to give you his undivided attention?
There is that initial knee-jerk reaction: why would God want to hang out with me? Would it be awkward? Jesus is all-perfect, with the flawless crease of his brow and his consummate speech; I’m wearing old jeans and have Cheetos stains on my fingers. Would it be uncomfortable to sit in his perfect presence? Would he snicker at me? There are times when I know his attention would soothe me and encourage me. But there are other days or alternate states of mind where I think I want to hide from him—the perfect specimen. It might seem easier for God to not be there by my side all the time and looking over my affairs. But his personal attention is a good thing.
It’s a good thing to have God personally looking into your life and giving you attention. In Luke 5, a man named Levi got to experience Jesus’ personal gaze. In fact, the attention Jesus gave him turned his life around. He went from being ostracized by almost everyone he knew, to being accepted and daily encouraged, a part of Jesus’ inner few. Levi got to rub shoulders with Peter, James, and John and most importantly, Jesus himself.
Why was this experience with Jesus so life-changing? I can tell you one of the first and biggest reasons Jesus made such an impact on Levi (who was also called Matthew and wrote the book of Matthew): Jesus didn’t look at Levi and judge him by his list of moral credentials. Jesus accepted him even though he knew Levi had broken numerous social norms and national standards. Jesus came for those who have failed, who have struck out.
Levi was snubbed by every other representative of the Jewish faith. Levi was a Jewish loser. They used him for target practice—he was the butt of their jokes, he received bruises from well aimed remarks. The high-standing religious figures had always chided him or ignored him, but this Jesus was willing to give him the time of day and more.
It was Jesus’ day-to-day action of demonstrating the grace of God personally to Levi that did it. The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. // Psalm 69:33. Levi wasn’t technically a prisoner but he probably felt like one. Jesus did not despise his contemptuous social status; Jesus did not ignore Levi’s need to belong - he called him into a daily, vibrant group of comrades-in-arms. Jesus looked so intently at Levi that he could hear the cry of his soul: the need to be accepted and loved.
But of course, you have to ask, “Why would Jesus give me his personal attention?” I get it; I wonder the same thing. Jesus picked the least qualified in order to demonstrate that his love breaks through boundaries that we and others build up. When we are convinced Jesus wouldn’t hang out with “little old me,” he picks up the tiniest of children and places them on his knee to show that age and stature are not what matter; a human soul matters—I qualify. When we sense that our failure at religion or our lack of proper morals might disqualify us, Jesus shares an afternoon by the well with a Samaritan woman of ill-repute. Pick a reason why you think Jesus would not give you his attention, and the Gospels [and all of the Bible] present a quick rebuttal to your line of thought.
He cares! He loves us to death! This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. // 1 John 4:9-10. It would seem that Jesus makes the first move to show us attention. That’s how Levi joined Jesus’ crew. Come walk with the Savior and experience his grand attention.
Blessings to you in Jesus.
Pastor Al