It was as much a miracle to call Matthew from the receipt of custom as to cure the paralytic. If the latter needed power to deliver him from the grasp of disease, no less did the former need it to set him free from the clutch of covetousness which held him fast at the money-table. But divine power is sufficient for all things, and He who set free the paralytic awakens a new life in Matthew.

And are not these two occurrences put together (Matt. 9:) to teach us the fullness of divine blessing? Our need is completely met; this we see in the paralytic. We are given power to walk in the path of obedience; and this is made plain in Matthew's case. Our Lord does not stop at half-way measures, nor should we. If our need is met, it should be our care to see that His will for us is accomplished. But, as we said, this last is as much a miracle as the first. The drawing of His love is as much divine as the putting forth of manifest power. Let it be ours to prove the reality of this, and thus provide a feast for Him who has called us to Himself.

"Lord, Thou hast drawn me after Thee;
Now let me run, and never tire."