Matthew 9:9

“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

Right before this, Jesus healed the paralytic and the people were amazed at His ability to no only heal the man, but to also forgive him of his sins. Matthew was a tax collector, and because of his job, he was not liked among the people. He was sitting at the tax collectors booth and then Jesus called Matthew to follow Him and Matthew just stood up and did. Imagine yourself in Matthew’s position and think about where your mind would be if Jesus just walked and asked you to follow. Would you just get up and go simply because He asked you to? Would you ignore the call and continue on with your day? Would you sit and process through every situation that could happen and weigh the odds? These are all options that we seem to have in this life. When God asks or calls us to do something, do we go just as Matthew did here, or do we take the seemingly easier road? There was no hesitation here, Matthew just heard the call, got up, and followed Jesus. He probably knew of Jesus, but not of anything that was in his future or even where they would go later that night, but Matthew knew that following Jesus in faith was well worth any cost that might come.  In John 10:27 it says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Matthew knew the voice that called him to follow and so he got up in that very moment following Jesus in faith.

As I look at this verse, I examine my heart and ask the Lord to show me what I do when I am called on by Him. There have been so many times in my life where the Lord asks me to do something and I doubt that it is the right thing to do and I go my own way. To boil it down, I think that I know better for my life and so I do what I want instead of following God in faith and trust. The first time I really just did what God was asking me to do not knowing why was when I came to IGNITE. I had no idea why He was asking me to go or how I would get all of the fundraising and it scared me, but I remember just knowing that I couldn’t ignore the call this time. Following that call was the best decision I could’ve made and God knew that He had to call me out for me to really know who He was and how deeply He desires to know me intimately. When we follow the call that God has for us, something in our daily life or even a call to go out and do something unimaginable, He has massive blessings in store for us. When we follow Him, He has so much more for us then we could ever hope or imagine. He is showing this to me in this season of my life, revealing His mercies and blessings that He has for each day when I live faithfully committed to Him, even in the little things. My application is to pray that He would give me the boldness to carry out and follow no matter where He leads me, even in my day to day life.