The Call of the Lord

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. (Luke 5:27-28)

The passage today is short and the content is not difficult to grasp - however the weight of this action stirs us to the deep.

He left all - There was no accounting what he should take or leave, and as an accountant one would surmise it the most natural thing to do.  'Perhaps I should take this or that - maybe the Lord has need of it?'  No man, putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). This is one of those haunting verses which has oft times caused me dismay.  Yet who among us doesn't occasionally look back?  Not so much to consider what we've left behind - as to recall our sinful ways and be reminded of His Grace... Yet in that looking, do we not sometimes trip up?  Remember Lots Wife! (Luke 17:32)

He left all - There is nothing that a man may leave behind which the Lord could not restore many times over.  Remember all that Job lost? Yet was it not all restored to him in two-fold measure?  This is not to speak like the prosperity preachers, but just to put to our remembrance that our Lord knows what we have given up.  And He knows whether it is an idol in our life or not.  Finally let us remember that as a Christian, what this world offers to us is nothing but scraps of waste, compared to what awaits us in heavenly glory!

He...rose up - A man, called by God must arise.  The calling of God is a rising up to the Work. A rising up to a standard higher than before.  And clearly, in order to respond to His call, we must arise and go.  One cannot go if he is seated (vs. 27) 

But what if I fall? Proverbs 24:16a says, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again" Arise!  Get up and make it right!  Do the work again you once did!  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works (Rev. 2:5)  I underlined those words, as they point us to recall that place we were once at. 

He...followed Him - Having left all and arisen there is yet one more thing lacking.  When the Lord bids a man to "Follow Me" He must do it.  And this, one may consider is the greatest of challenges - for to leave all is the negative.  Yet to follow Him is to now count the cost and see it not simply as a change of actions, but a change of heart and motive.  Such a call, when heard, is so compelling, there is no accounting necessary, no waiting around for fleece.  It is tied in to the immediate, "Follow Me"

Lord - If I have been lazy or unresponsive in my responsibilities toward Your call, forgive me and cause me to again arise and follow - no matter the cost or the price to pay - for there is nothing this world offers which is of any standing before You.  Amen