After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
The writer Ernest Hemingway was famous for trimming the fat with spare language, telling it like it was. Other writers would have taken the above story and made it 13 pages. Here, Luke told it like it was in spare language for the simple reason that it speaks for itself. We can fill in the blanks that Levi, also known as Matthew, was among the most despised people in the land because he was a dreaded tax collector. Jesus chose him and called him as a follower. Jesus had obviously done the work of regeneration in Levi because no time elapsed. Levi immediately rose and followed him. Luke did add one more detail that Mark and Matthew did not include in their account. Matthew left everything.
Those two words, leaving everything, are the hardest words for the follower of Christ but it is what it requires. We cannot carry a cross along with our possessions, our cars and boats, our loved ones, or the implements of our careers. Things, jobs, and people, are necessary for life on this earth but our prayer today is that we would be able to put them down in order to carry the cross with both hands, fully committing ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. May we allow Jesus to do this work in us today.
Dear Lord, thank you for the cross you carried for us with both hands. Help us to lift our hands from the things of this world and grasp the grace you offer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church