Luke 5:27-28

New Living Translation (NLT) 

Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

For Meditation

Oh, the struggles in the hearts of the people we assume to be settled and secure in life? If only we could get a glimpse into the secret spaces in their minds!

Have you considered why some people commit suicide? I am not talking about deranged people, but the successful, the rich, and the upscale. They’ve got it all together, you thought. Oh, but wait a minute. Why can’t they sleep without drugs, alcohol, or weed? Why have the ceilings turned dark and threatening, and their pillows wet?

Blessed be God! Aren’t you glad you have Jesus? I mean, where would you be without the Son of God? Who else could set you free and give you a good night’s sleep without fear, and the assurance of a bright morning and a fantastic day, apart from the Son of God (Psalm 127:2)? He is the only One who can take away your feeling of insecurity and replace it with unbridled confidence and boldness in the Spirit.

Talk about Levi, the disciple you know as Matthew. It was a typical day for him when he sat as chief tax collector the day Jesus walked by, looked at him, and said, follow me and be my disciple (Lk. 5:27). Despised and considered a traitor and a cheat by his people, nobody knew the storm in his life as he may have tried to get out of his job. The scorn of the people and principally the displeasure of Yahweh. But it was his bread and butter, so what else could he do? The family, mortgage, school fees, finishing the building, etc. Familiar?

Can you imagine the number of times he might have gone to the temple and, beating his breast like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable, prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Lk. 18:13)? What a relief and joy when the Master called Levi to be His disciple? Do you get the drift? Does it sound like your struggle and eventual joy?

Paul was right about Matthew and all of us without Christ.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath” (Eph. 2:1-3). 

So how do you think Matthew felt when Christ came to him and said, 

Follow me and be my disciple?

How did you feel when He called you?

Relieved and exhilarated, Matthew left everything and followed Jesus. He threw a banquet and invited his friends to meet his new Master (Lk. 5:29-32). What a great day of salvation and joy!

Do you feel that way? Where is your banquet with your friends so they too can meet the Savior?

Pray with Me

Father, thank you for the day your Son came by my table of sin and distress and mercifully called me into your rest, salvation for my soul. May I not hold back my joy, but shout it from the rooftop, calling others to come and meet Jesus, too. In Christ I pray, amen.