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Welcome to Wisdom for the Day, your daily source for spiritual refreshment and guidance.
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I'm Rick.
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Join me as I dive into God's Word to find clarity and strength for life's challenges.
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Let me help you embrace each day with faith and wisdom, ready to feel inspired.
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Let's get started.
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Today is day 46.
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Follow the leader From the book of Matthew, chapter 9, verse 9.
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Follow me.
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He told them, and Matthew got up and followed him.
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In the ancient Roman world, tax collectors weren't government employees.
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They were part of syndicates that financially exploited ordinary citizens.
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After they prepaid taxes to Rome, tax collectors were free to gouge their fellow citizens.
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They often collected far more than they initially invested.
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Now, given this setup, it's safe to say that Matthew, as a tax collector, was making a significant fortune.
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As a tax collector was making a significant fortune Now.
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Understanding this helps us grasp the magnitude of the decision that Matthew made when Jesus invited him to follow him.
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Now, some of us may face similar decisions about the cost that it costs us to follow Jesus.
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Now maybe we're making money in ways that dishonor him.
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We might be involved in business practices that, while considered smart by worldly standards, we know in our hearts are wrong.
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Now these questionable practices may even create a barrier between us and other believers that make us feel distanced from the community of faith.
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But here's the good news Christ came into the world for people like us.
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He came to restore us to spiritual and moral health.
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Now, while the changes that Jesus asks us may feel like surgery, painful and invasive, it's a necessary part of the healing process, and the sacrifice that he calls us to make is met with an incredible promise.
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Jesus offers an investment policy like no other.
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Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters, or father or mother or children or fields, for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit internal life.
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It's Matthew 19, 29.
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Now, while following Jesus may come at a cost, the return on that investment, both in this life and for eternity, is beyond anything we could imagine.
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Won't you pray with me?
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Is beyond anything we could imagine.
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Won't you pray with me?
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Lord, help us to not be put off by free grace that calls us to costly obedience.
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Heal our moral brokenness, lead us to confess our sins and live faithfully for you, in Jesus' name, amen.
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Well, that's all for today, but I'll be back tomorrow with more of God's Word.
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To listen to past episodes, go to wisdomforthedayorg For free Wisdom of the Day.
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Merch, go to buymeacoffeecom.
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Slash renewedmindsets and consider becoming a community member.
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The executive producer for Wisdom of the Day is Kimmy Shirley.
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Quality control engineer is Yelena McClellan.
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Intro and outro music by Weston McCurry Until tomorrow, I'm Rick.
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I love you, see ya.