Follow Me

"As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he arose and followed Him."
-- Matthew 9:9

I remember, from my carefree youth, times when a bunch of us grade school buddies would gather. Someone would invariably shout out "C'mon, guys! Follow me!", and off we'd go. Whether to the playground swings, into town for a movie, or through the woods for some wondrous adventure, we would gleefully follow the leader with expectations of great fun and new discoveries. We seldom worried about hidden risks, associated costs, future demands, or even our own worthiness to follow along with the gang. We joyfully fell in line for we knew great things lay ahead.

During a very busy span of days, Jesus went from place to place healing the ill and infirm, driving out demons, and teaching and preaching to those who needed to hear His word, He happened by a tax collector's office. He spoke to the man sitting behind the counter and said simply, "Follow me.", and the man arose and followed his new leader. Matthew joyfully fell in line behind Jesus, for he somehow knew that great things lay ahead.

The records of the Gospel hold no shorter command given by our Savior. Two simple words, ones we once jumped at the chance to obey. "Follow me." Why do we find it so difficult to do so now that we are older? Because we have a better understanding of the risks, the costs, the demands of being a Christian? Members of the early church suffered greatly at the hands of those who would not believe. Even today, Christians worldwide face persecution and death for their belief. But Matthew recorded the words Jesus spoke when he gathered His disciples by His side and taught them: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12) So as rational, thinking adults, we should easily be able to do a quick mental calculation and see that the rewards, namely eternal life in heaven, far outweigh the risks of insult, persecution, injury, or even the end of this life on earth. For great is our reward in heaven, if we only follow.

Perhaps we don't feel worthy to even attempt to follow in Christ's footsteps. We don't have a couple of hundred Bible verses memorized and ready to employ when the occasion arises. We fail to tithe on a regular basis, or even attend church each and every Sunday. We don't understand everything we've read and been told about God. We don't even know how to pray correctly. There are any number of excuses we could come up with, but excuses they would still be regardless of quantity. Jesus walked up to a tax collector, one of the most reviled class of people during those times. He did not ask Matthew to recite verses, to donate a portion of his wealth, or even to lead a prayer. He asked for no credentials at all! He looked the man in the heart and said "Follow me", and he arose and followed Christ. If Matthew felt himself unworthy, it certainly did not slow him down. The Gospel makes no mention of hesitation or deliberation or of Matthew questioning Jesus or saying "Why me, Lord?". He merely rose, and followed.

Jesus knows we are sinners. He sees into our hearts and our thoughts. He understands better than we our imperfection. Yet He also knows that great things lay ahead. He still stands before us and beckons us. His words still ring in the air... "Follow Me."

C'mon, folks! Let's follow Jesus!

Help Wanted: Laborers

"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.'"
-- Matthew 9:37-38

This passage comes at the end of this particular chapter, after Matthew related five miracles Jesus performed: healing a paralytic, curing a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years, restoring the sight of two blind men, raising the daughter of a ruler from the dead, and casting out a demon from a mute so that he might speak. This short, but action-packed chapter also included discussions with a group of Pharisees and another with some disciples of John the Baptist, as well as Matthew's conversion. In other words, it was a very busy time for Jesus, during which he encountered throngs of people needing His mercy, and even more questioning His words and deeds.

Matthew recounts that as Jesus traveled through the cities and villages, He came upon so many people in real need of His teaching, so many longing to hear Him preach, so many so desperately seeking His healing touch. And just as the woman who sought merely to touch the hem of His garment, whose faith made her well, all that believed in the power of Jesus, and that His power came from God, were made whole once again. All that needed to hear His word were made or allowed to listen. But there were so many of them, so very many, more than one man could attend to, more than even the mortal Son of God could see to in the time He knew He had remaining. The harvest of souls needing God's loving touch indeed was plentiful. But at that point, only one laborer worked the fields - Jesus Himself.

In the first verse of the next chapter, Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke to his disciples and "gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." (Matthew 10:1) Jesus recruited His twelve trusted and faithful followers to go out and labor in the fields alongside Him. He knew that His time with them grew shorter with each passing day, and He wanted to ensure His work would go on long after His ascension and return to the Father. And He instructed them to pray that more follow in their path, that even more laborers join them.

The greatest, most wonderful harvest we can imagine is our loving Father gathering His children back to Him so that they may live with Him for eternity in heaven. He is still in the business of harvesting souls, and He still enjoins us to pray that more laborers help in the great effort. Just as the twelve disciples were simple men before laying aside their past to follow Christ and to join Him in the harvest, so may we mere men and women also take up the cross and clothe ourselves with His word and help with His harvest. We may not see the direct effects of cast-out demons or illnesses slowly cured. But if someone sets aside the temptations of the devil and accepts Jesus as their true and only Savior, then we have indeed been empowered by Christ's own words and have rid that person of their personal demon that had otherwise bound them for hell. What more glorious gift could we give our Father, our Lord and Savior, than to help bring one of His children home?

Make no mistake... If we should prove successful in helping to turn even one soul back to Jesus, it is not by our acts or deeds, but by the power of God working through us as His tools. We are just laborers, working in the bountiful fields of the Lord, helping to bring in His harvest.

The harvest truly is plentiful. Pray that you may be a laborer for the Lord of the harvest.

Paid In Full

"By grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God -- not the results of works,
so that no one may boast."
-- Ephesians 2:8-9

Some people just seem to always exhibit the type of behavior we consider as being Christ-like. They always smile, always have a kind word for everyone, always try to help others, always stoop to serve. Everything they do, every act they make, every word they utter, we attribute to their passionate following of the teachings of Jesus, and we are sure they are bound for heaven.

Some folks are boisterous in their religious life, always giving the loudest amens and never afraid to affirm their belief in public, vigorously exhorting all around them to be born again to a life with Jesus. Some are more quiet in their faith, never lifting their heads or hands in worship, but ever meek and humble in service to the Lord. Yet as different as these two groups may seem, they also appear to be assured of their seats beside the Father's throne.

Many of us think doing good works will earn us a pass to heaven. We feel that performing good deeds, being kind to everyone we interact with, helping others, attending church on a regular basis, tithing, and all other such acts of goodness will help pave our way to God's right hand. We just know that although we may stumble and trip up at times -- maybe we have a big sin we're hiding or a list of small transgressions we feel shame for -- altogether we do more good deeds than harbor bad thoughts or acts, so God will understand and let us into His kingdom.

And if we think like that, then we do not truly understand why Jesus Christ walked the face of this earth as a man. Only He has the power to grant us passage to heaven. Only He can intercede with God on our behalf. Jesus paid the ultimate price to assure us of our place in glory, and nothing we can do in this world could ever equal that cost. We are sinners, all of us, and not worthy of heaven. Yet God gave the world His Son, and Jesus suffered, was crucified, and died so that we might gain our place at God's side. The price of our admission has been paid, and paid in full. No amount of good works, no percentage of our possessions, no whispers or shouts can repay what we were so freely given. God's grace alone, through Jesus Christ His Son, can open the gates of heaven before us.

All that is required is that we believe. We must realize that we are sinners, unworthy of the salvation already paid for us. We need only ask God's forgiveness, and mean it. We may be able to convince others that we are something we are not. We may even be able to effectively lie to ourselves, for a time. But we cannot fool God. He sees us as we are, not as we would have others think of us, nor even as we think of ourselves. God truly and surely sees into and knows our very hearts. We must completely and fully believe in God, and in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We must ask forgiveness and pray for our salvation. But that is all we must do. The full cost of our salvation has already been covered. Chances are, though, that by this simple admission and by complete acceptance of Christ, we will strive to more closely follow His example while He Himself trod this earth, and by doing so we will want to do good works. But remember: Good works alone will not buy our way into heaven.

"By grace you have been saved through faith." Those beautiful words assure us, comfort us, yet remind us to keep that faith. By God's grace we have been given what we could never afford to pay. As long as we believe, our bill for salvation is marked "Paid in full".

Follow the Signs

"Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake
at Your presence..."
-- Isaiah 64:1

"Lord, please just give me some sign. Show me what You want me to do. Prove that You really exist." At some point in our lives, we've all probably uttered those words, or something very similar. Usually in moments of desperation, when the weight of the world rests squarely on our shoulders, when our need is greatest. We beseech God to talk to us, to point us in the right direction, to make Himself and His plan known to us, to let us know that He does indeed exist and all our efforts are not in vain. Where is the burning bush, the spinning wheel, the manna from heaven, or even the angels appearing before us? Why can't You split the heavens wide open, cause the hills and the hearts of men to tremble, walk among us once again and remove any shred of doubt from all naysayers and nonbelievers?

Before our Father sent His Son to live and walk beside us, books in the Old Testament tell us that He spoke to people in a voice they could hear, gave them signs they could see, made known His power through acts unimaginable. While Jesus walked with us, and after His ascension while His closest followers still took breath, God showed His love and majesty through the Son and His workings of great and wonderful miracles. Christ also became teacher, with His instructions to all mankind recorded in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The God of power and the God of love, made known to man through various ways.

But what of today, how does God appear to us now? Some say God does not exist, or at least no longer cares, since He does not show Himself to modern man. But is it true that God does not appear to us or talk to us, or could it simply be that we don't stop long enough to see Him, to hear Him? Our modern world is such a busy place, our lives seemingly in constant turmoil. Our Father speaks to us softly, in the sound of a sleeping baby's breath, happily, in a songbird's trill, powerfully, in the roar of the crashing surf. He appears to us daily, in the face of the nursing home resident, the rainbow after a torrential storm, the very talents we ourselves possess. God is all around us, if we but use our heart's eyes to see and ears to hear.

Perhaps the most visible evidence of God in our day-to-day lives can be found in the acts of our fellow man, those we interact with frequently as well as those we may see once and never notice again. Oftentimes God works His wonders through us, His children, allowing us to help each other, letting His angels direct us to do His bidding. Please do not discount the tremendous comfort received from a friend as simply an act of kindness, but consider that it may very well be aid provided by the grace of our Father. Perhaps that tip your neighbor gave you about a home for sale when you were house hunting may have been whispered in her ear by an angel. Or maybe that raise you finally received at work was not entirely gained by your good work, but by the mercy of a loving Father who knew you needed help paying the bills.

If you have prayed and prayed for some form of relief - someone to complete your life and make you whole, a job to fulfill you, the health of your mother - and it one day comes to pass, please do not forget the One who was listening and who answered your prayers. It is usually too easy to think that kind acts come from people, or that our good works are recognized and rewarded by others, or that our talents are somehow a product of our abilities, when the truth is that all these come from God.

There will always come moments when our frustrations with ourselves and our fellows comes to a head and we scream to God to show Himself, to rend the heavens and cause the mountains to tremble before Him, just so we can show others His power, just to convince ourselves He still speaks and acts on our behalf, or, as Isaiah put it, "To make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!" (Isaiah 64:2) But He need not go to such ostentatious extremes. He still speaks to us. He still shows us His presence. The signs are all around us, if we but stop long enough to see them. Follow the signs, and find God.