MATTHEW 9:9

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

TO PONDER

Have you watched ‘The Chosen’, that free series on the life of Jesus, seen through the ‘chosen’ (the 12 disciples)? If not, I would recommend a viewing of as many series that have been produced (at time of writing, three or four).

The character of Matthew is brilliantly cast. Without giving too much away, his back story is of a tax collector for the Romans, which he does very well. He is focussed on the job at hand, and rarely gets sidetracked. I suspect he would be on the spectrum if he applied for jobs today. It seems like his god is his employment, until he encounters Jesus. The way Matthew records it in his gospel account, he did not hesitate when Jesus called. There is an instant response. There are no questions. There are no 'if's' or 'but's' or 'hang-on's'. People like Matthew work better with routine. They like to know what will happen next. Yet here’s something quite out of the ordinary that will change his life.   

Do you hesitate to follow? Are there times when you are not sure if following is a good idea, because many of your friends don’t? Are you sometimes afraid to follow because you don’t know where it might lead?

God knows how you feel. God knows your doubts. And God wants you to know that he’ll be hanging around with you, so you can be confident in following. So you can jump in head first. So you can get up and get active.    

PRAYER: Leader of all, forgive us when we have chosen not to follow you. Keep inviting us, even though we sometimes hesitate – so thanks for your patience and persistence. Amen 

Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping