Mark 2:14

As He passed by, He saw Levi the {son} of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

At college we would have these special banquets. At one of these banquets, in the days preceding, there was a girl-be-nice-to-guy day. My roommate and I were lucky enough to have dates that year, and they decided that they wanted to surprise us. When they met us at our dorm, they blindfolded us and then guided us to our destination. Being blindfolded was very scary. I had to trust that they would not run me into a tree or accidentally for get to tell me about a step. Luckily we made it to our destination without mishap, but there was no doubt it was scary, even though we trusted the girls who were guiding us.

When Jesus calls His disciples, He only issues a two word command. This command requires as much trust or more than our blindfolded escapade. Do you realize that Levi got up in the middle of his work day and basically quit his job in order to obey what the Lord commanded him? You know that had to be scary and a bit uncomfortable for him. Yet it was God was commanding him. So Levi had to make a decision: Did he trust God enough to obey or not?

While Jesus does not come by our workplace and ask us to quit our jobs, He does leave us the same command of “Follow Me.” In it is implied that we will give up whatever it may take to do that. It may be jobs, it be family members, financial security, free time, our favorite hobbies, or any number of things. We must be willing to give everything up for Him. Sometimes that is very scary for us. Because we cannot see what the future may hold or why we have to sacrifice such things, we can feel as if we are blindfolded. Each step is tentative, and we try to feel around us as much as possible. At the end of the day though we are faced with the same choice as the disciples. Even though we cannot see the road ahead of us, we must trust in the Lord that He will guide us safely through it if we will only follow His voice.

As He passed by, He saw Levi the {son} of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.