New Living Translation (NLT)

I could see myself sitting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These three great Godly men—we're thousands of years apart. And here I am, at the same table, after a detour of many years, having lived a life on its way to destruction. And we're talking like old friends.

I'm not making this up. You know what gave me this picture and led me to write this song?

This verse:

"I tell you this: that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Matthew 8:11, NLT)

When I read this, I felt tears well up in my eyes. Why, you ask?

I just felt so grateful; I couldn't keep it in.

And though this verse and experience deeply humble me, I know better than to feel unworthy.

I am now part of this family, made righteous by the blood of Jesus.

1 Peter 2:9 says I am chosen, a royal priest, made holy, God’s very own possession.

As a result, I can now show others the goodness of God, for He called me out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

That's my not-so-smooth segue to Matt 9:12 (NLT). 😉

Jesus says, "Healthy people don't need a doctor; sick people do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

That was me once. I was 'sick'; I tried to self-medicate my sickness using drugs, alcohol, sex, and porn—anything to camouflage my 'sickness.'

Jesus healed me. Not all at once. Some things He cured right away; others I had to overcome together with Him, much like rehabilitation.

And now I just want to pay it forward.

That's the thing you see. The point of a doctor dealing with the sick is to get them well.

They diagnose a disease not to punish you, but to get you better. Imagine a doctor feeling so sorry for you that he decides not to treat the cancer out of fear it would cause you too much discomfort.

You don't want a doctor like that, do you?

Sometimes it's got to get worse before it gets better. Believe me, I know.

But the other side is true too. When He's healed you, don't keep saying you're sick. And quit doing the stuff that could make you sick again.

Eat healthy food; eat the Word. Learn from Jesus; follow Him. He did what no doctor would do. He became your sickness and carried it so you wouldn't have to.