John 1:1-5 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.                                                                    

Through Him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.                                                                          
John 1:14a The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us….                        

Read Psalm 103              
             
When God created heaven and earth and all that dwell in it, He did it to have communion with us. He desired to walk in the garden with us. He desired to talk with us, to hear about our day and what is going on in our world, both physical and spiritual. He gave Adam and Eve a perfect honeymoon spot. He gave them all that they could ever need or desire.                                                                                                           Then Adam and Eve saw the one thing out of reach and they had to have it. So they grabbed for the golden ring and fell off of the perfection God gave them and created their new reality. They learned the hard way that they should have listened to what God told them.                                            

God so desired to have that precious time with us again, He sent His Son into the world so that we could have a human form with skin on to touch and see and hear with our physical ears and eyes and hands. We could now have a perfect picture of God the Father.

Jesus is God. He tells us that what He says and does are all a perfect representation of the Father. All that He did here on earth was in direct obedience to what His Father and our Father told Him to do. He gave us the perfect example of how we can live in perfect communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.                                        

John 5:24 tells us that when we hear His words and believe God Who sent Him, we cross over from death to eternal life. Jesus showed us the Father through all He did. We can see the character and love and the ways of God the Father. Psalm 103:7 tells us that God showed His deeds to Israel but His ways to Moses. We have that same privilege. We have a record of God's acts and ways. We can choose to see only what we want to see or we can go deeper and learn of the God Who loved us enough to send His Son to live among us and show us a better way.

Luke 15:1, 2 Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathered around to hear Him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
             
Matthew 9:10-13 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.”
             
Jesus spent His whole ministry showing the people how He loved them. He did not spurn sinners but welcomed them into His presence. The first one that He revealed His identity to was the Samaritan woman at the well. Not exactly the cream of society. He chose men that had no great theological education to be the ones to preach the good news. He ate with lepers and tax collectors and “sinners”. On the whole, they treated Him far better than the religious
leaders.                                                                                                                                       
The religious leaders knew all the prophecies and promises of the coming Messiah, yet when He stood among them, they rejected Him because He didn’t fit what they wanted. They wanted the conquering king, not the sacrificial Lamb that scripture also spoke of. If the self-righteous leaders acknowledged His deity, they would have to repent and confess their sinfulness. That would never fit into their public image.                        

Jesus preferred to be with those that hungered to be more righteous and to serve the Lord in a more honest way. He wanted the people to rely on Him and His mercy. Too many relied on their possessions and riches to protect them from life’s struggles. That hasn’t changed from two thousand years ago. We still put Jesus as the last resort and not the first.                                                                                                         
Jesus is calling us, His people, to repentance and confession. He is calling us to be honest with ourselves as well as with Him. He already knows our sinfulness and yet loves us with an everlasting love. He desires us to spend time in His presence, just as we are. His love is filled with mercy and grace and a deep well of forgiveness. He doesn’t want us to clean up our act first. He wants us to allow Him into our sinful lives so He can change us into a royal priesthood, holy and acceptable in His sight.

              Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Who shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
    
Proverbs 16:2, 3 All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
             
Isaiah was offering himself and his works to the Lord. The assignment of the Lord would be a difficult one but Isaiah was willing. He, Isaiah, had already been through a tough life of being a prophet to an unrepentant people. He was faithful, however, to persevere in what the Lord was asking of him.                                                    
Many times, we are willing to do the ‘work’ of the Lord as long as it fits into our schedule or will look good on a resume. The Lord looks at what we do and how we do it. He knows our hearts and He knows our thoughts. He looks on why we do as much as what we do. He even knows what we think of the jobs we are assigned.                                        

No matter what the job, do it as unto the Lord. The Lord uses great evangelists, janitors, famous sports stars, cooks, and secretaries. Brother Lawrence wrote in his book, ‘Practicing the Presence of God’, that the Lord is with us in the kitchen, scrubbing the floors and in our prayer time. There is nothing that we do that is not known by Him. He rejoices in a job well done because it reflects our love of Him and our willingness to serve even in the ‘little’ jobs. He desires to honor us with His praise as His ‘good and faithful servants’.                                                                                               Jesus spent three years trying to make the apostles understand that He came as a servant leader. He wanted them to desire to serve Him with a willing heart. It was not until after His resurrection that they finally understood. They all went on to serve Him even to their deaths. He desires no less from us. We will stand before Him at the final judgment with our record of service and motives laid bare. No excuses will be accepted. We, as His chosen people, will stand forgiven if we have repented. But our lives will also stand as His witnesses to the world.                                                                                                                                      
​Come before Him rejoicing in what He has entrusted you to do for Him. Do it with all your heart. Even when it doesn’t turn out like you thought it would, trust Him. He is in control and knows His plans for us. He loves us with an all-consuming love that covers our sins and raises us up to reign with Him in heavenly places.