07/06/2026
Beloved in Christ, today’s theme presents us with the two ultimate pillars of the Christian walk: Grace and Faith. Grace is God’s part; it is His unmerited favor, His reach toward us when we didn't deserve it. Faith is our part; it is our active, trusting response to that call.
We do not start our journey by being perfect. We start because we are called.
1. Called by Grace: Come as You Are
In our Gospel reading (Matthew 9:9-13), we see Jesus doing something scandalous for His time: He calls Matthew, a corrupt tax collector, to follow Him. Jesus then sits down to eat with "sinners and tax collectors." When the self-righteous Pharisees question this, Jesus delivers a powerful truth: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick... I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
This is the definition of Grace.
God does not wait for us to clean up our act before He calls us.
He meets us right in our mess—whether we are stuck in dishonesty like Matthew, or feeling spiritually bankrupt.
Abraham, too, in Genesis 12, was just a regular man living in a pagan land when God unexpectedly called him out of sheer grace, promising to make him a great nation.
Grace means you are chosen, not because of what you have done, but because of who God is.
2. Living by Faith: Stepping Into the Unknown
But the story doesn't end with the call. Once grace finds us, Faith must move us.
Abraham’s Faith: In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham to leave his country and go "to the land I will show you." God didn't give him a map or a final destination; He just gave him a promise. Abraham packed up and went. As Paul reminds us in Romans 4, Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness because he believed God could do the humanly impossible.
The Woman’s Faith: In Matthew 9:20-22, we encounter a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve long years. She was broke, exhausted, and socially isolated. Yet, her faith was so fierce that she thought, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." She didn't need a grand public ceremony; she just needed a moment of contact with the Savior.
Living by faith means trusting God’s promises more than we trust our current circumstances. It means stretching out our hand to touch Jesus, even when the crowd is pressing in and the situation looks hopeless.
The Challenge for the Week
Every single day, we are caught between our human limitations and God's infinite power.
The Good News: You don’t have to earn God's love. You are already Called by Grace.
The Call to Action: Today, Jesus is asking you to step out of your comfort zone, just like Abraham, and to reach out in desperation and hope, just like the woman with the issue of blood.
When your strength fails, remember that His grace is sufficient. When the future is uncertain, remember that the God who called you is entirely faithful. Walk out into this week not by sight, but Living by Faith.
