After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow Him. Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for Him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were guests with them. But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replied to them, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
What Jesus said to Levi (Matthew) He says to all of us — “Follow me!" The correct response is what Levi did — “Leaving everything behind he got up and began to follow Him”. Clearly Levi was called to be one of the 12, became a pastor, and dedicated his life to God’s work. Not everyone is called to be a pastor and to work on the altar. And yet, Jesus calls every single person to “follow Him”. Leaving everything behind may not involve what it did for Levi, but we all have to leave everything. That doesn’t mean that we divorce our wives/husbands, abandon our children, quit our jobs, and attend every meeting in church 7-days a week. But it would definitely involve giving up what we know displeases Him… any thought, actions, dreams, and attitudes.
This is very radical, and even scary at first. But the truth is, deciding not following Jesus is the scariest decision we could ever make. Deciding that we know what’s best, or that this world and our friends and family are the best guide for how to live our lives… that’s scary! Sure the Lord Jesus will ask us to give up certain things that will cause us pain, but in the end, He is going to give us much, much more than we ever give up for Him. We will get the best of this deal by far. But it is a life of denying the flesh and living by the Spirit. By doing this, we make ourselves the enemy of the world, and even of some of our friends and family because they’re still on the wrong side.
Jesus was criticized for eating and spending time with sinners. The religious leaders of His time were offended. But in response Jesus declares His mission and purpose. He did not come into the world to start a religious club, or to spend His time with those who were satisfied with their lives. Jesus came to save the lost and dying, to heal the sick, to help those who were tired of their miserable lives, to give freedom to people bound by demons, and to release people from fear and failure. If we belong to Him, we will have the same attitude.
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