Matthew 9:9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him.

      What can God see in you? God knew you before the foundations of the earth. Therefore, the Lord has a good idea of the probabilities hidden in each of us and knows how to help us fulfill what He sees in our eternal existence. Matthew was not a favourite son of the people since he collected taxes for the oppressors of the Jewish people. Matthew would have been called many slanderous names. He would have heard derogatory statements as the angry people tried to belittle him, and he would have been cussed out regularly. Matthew knew the character of the people, and how religious they truly were. What did he see in Jesus when He walked by and called him to follow?

      It seems that Matthew felt secure in who Jesus was because Matthew invited Jesus to his place for dinner and to meet with other hated tax collectors as well as an assortment of known sinners. Matt. 9:10 Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. Maybe it is not just a saying that Jesus was a friend of sinners. I’m glad Jesus can relate to anyone and is a friend of sinners because I might not have met Him in time. What was the probability that I would become someone who walks and talks with the Lord? How about you? What wonderful events brought you into a relationship with the Lord? I say wonderful, because of the fact that you are in Christ today, and it does not matter what you went through to find the Lord wanting and ready to save your eternal soul. Eph. 1:4 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world for us to be holy and blameless before Him, in love 5 He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

      How true it is, that it is only in Jesus Christ that we live, move, and have our existence. Acts 17:28a ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ I feel in my heart, that there was a high probability that the Lord would find us and that we would become part of His eternal plan. The fact that God said to Abraham, to look and count the stars to see how many descendants would come forth because of the covenant being made between God and Abraham. This demonstrated the trillions of possibilities that were available to us becoming saved in God’s eternal plan. Gen. 15:5 And the LORD brought Abram outside his tent into the night and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” When we look toward God, we hope that the probability is favourable toward us, but when God looks at us, He sees the reality that we truly belong to Him.

      How many times have we said, “I didn’t see that coming, what were the odds of that happening?” This is the hidden variable that God can see through, and He already understands the outcome. What were the odds of the Jewish people saving their lives after the proclamation that King Xerxes was tricked into signing? Ester 3:8 Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.

      Haman hated the Jews, and he was even more hateful towards them because Mordecai would not bow to Haman. Ester 3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour, he was enraged. Through one odd probability after another, the whole evil plot that Haman had craftily planned was exposed, and Haman and his sons were all hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. Ester 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided. We have seen this over and over throughout history. The Jewish people are about to be destroyed and events change the outcome because of the promise God made to Abraham.

      Our God is a covenant-keeping God, and if we by faith and choice, enter His covenant, He will secure our eternal life in God the Son’s blood. The interesting factor is that – left to ourselves, the probability of us choosing God, would have been slim to none. Man inherently is enemies with God because of the sin that separates us from God’s righteousness. This is why while we were sinners God loved us and chose to become the sacrifice for our sins. Rom. 5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

      God saw Matthew collecting taxes, but also saw him writing the Gospel of Matthew and becoming an Apostle who could explain the law of grace so that we would understand the love God has for us. Those who paid their taxes at Matthew’s collection table only saw a Roman puppet, but Christ saw the real probability that existed in His heart. Your family and friends can see what they want to see in you because of their biases. However, God the Son sees all the probabilities in you waiting to be exposed through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I’m willing to say, “Satan didn’t see that coming.” 1Cor. 2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. We have been chosen in Him who first loved us. How good is that?