“And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, ‘Follow me.’ And he arose and followed him.” (Mark 2:14 KJV). 

Matthew (or Levi as he was called here) was a businessman. He was engaged in the business of collecting taxes  for the Romans.  It was a lucrative profession. The Romans set a fixed rate for their  taxes.  The Tax Collectors could arbitrarily add a percentage to the amount that was collected.  That was their compensation.  And they became quite wealthy as a result.  But their wealth came at a cost. Because they were Jews who worked for the hated Romans, they were considered to be traitors and thus they were ostracized for the most part by their own people. 

 But one day, Jesus stopped  by Matthew’s place of business.  Jesus looked at him and said:  “Follow me.”  There was something about His words and His gaze  that  penetrated Matthew’s  soul. And he got up and followed Him!   That decision changed his life.  He would never be the same again. 

Jesus is still extending that invitation today.  It is the same for everyone.  His invitation is to:  “Follow Me.”  He does not invite us to preach, teach, be a missionary, sing, or serve in the  kitchen.   No.  He simply invites us to Follow Him!  And when we do, He alone  leads us to where He wants to go.  And  He alone empowers us to follow. 

We often make the Christian  life hard or difficult. We come up with all kinds of rules and regulations.  But all that Jesus asks anyone to do is to “Follow Him.”  Nothing more. Nothing less.  And  It is only  when we choose to follow Him that we experience the joy that He promises to bring.  All that we have to do is simply go where He goes, do what He does, and say what He says.  And if we do, we will be like Matthew.  We will never be the same again. 

James W. Black