As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
Matthew 9:9
Imagine you’re at work. Doesn’t matter if you’re a stay-at-home mom in the kitchen, a teacher in a classroom, a nurse in a hospital, an accountant in an office, a cook at a restaurant, or something else. If you’re retired, imagine yourself back at the job some years ago.
Now, imagine that Jesus walks in the door, comes up to you, looks you straight in the eye with the hint of a smile, and says, “Follow me.”
Now imagine that you get up, grab your purse or your wallet and your phone, and he says to you, “Leave all that.”
Now, imagine that you leave it, and walk out the door with him.
At this point, you’d probably be thinking something like, “I hope he’s just taking me to lunch. I hope this isn’t some kind of overnight thing because, well, my phone!”
Of course Jesus wouldn’t ask a mother to leave her young children unattended, or a surgeon to abandon his patient in the middle of an operation. But this idea of Jesus just walking into the middle of your normal, everyday scene and asking you to leave… well, it’s hard to imagine just walking away. It seems irresponsible!
This, though, is apparently what he did with several of his twelve disciples. He called to the fishermen and they immediately left their work (Matt.4:18-22). Matthew was at his job, but he got up and left to follow Jesus (Matt. 9:9).
These were regular people in the middle of life with its problems and responsibilities.
Jesus is not going to walk up to us at our job and ask us to leave everything behind. But Jesus does still call us– in the middle of life, of work, of problems, of sin– to follow him.
We are not called, in most cases, to completely forsake our current life. We don’t literally have the opportunity to follow Jesus out the door and live a nomadic life in his physical presence. But he is still our rabbi, our great teacher, and we are still his students. And everything we are already doing in this life should see a shift once we decide to follow him.
In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
When we accept a life of self-denial, don’t you think that will affect every aspect of our lives? It’s not like we naturally typically choose self-denial. Even when we do, it’s often motivated by self-interest. I won’t eat three more donuts because it will make me sick to my stomach. I won’t cuss out my boss because I’ll get fired. I won’t criticize my spouse because he or she will just get mad and we’ll have a big fight.
As a follower of Jesus each of these should shift: I won’t eat three more donuts because it will deplete my energy for doing whatever God has called me to today. I won’t cuss out my boss because Jesus wants my words to be pure. I won’t criticize my spouse because I’m called to treat him or her with love, respect, and patience.
I would love it if Jesus would come and take me out to lunch some time. I wish he would move in next door so we could visit often. Maybe (just maybe) I could even say that if I had a month to prepare, I would be willing to follow Jesus for three years on foot, not knowing what we would eat from day to day or where we would sleep from night to night. It would be amazing to watch him in action and learn from him on a daily basis.
But if I really mean that, I should be learning from him on a daily basis by studying the record of his teachings. And if I really, really mean to be his disciple, I should be willing to deny myself, shift away from sin and selfishness, and do whatever he asks, follow wherever he leads.
Jesus calls us. Will we follow?
by Christie Cole Atkins
Dear God, help me to recognize what an honor it is to be called to follow Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me not to procrastinate in my obedience to His teachings. I invite You, Lord, into every aspect of my life no matter how busy or messy. Help me to follow Jesus faithfully every day. In His name, Amen.
Walk Worthy 