Matthew

Leaving It All Behind

After years of counting out coins, writing out customs receipts, and collecting Roman taxes from his Jewish countrymen, Matthew finally heard an offer he could not refuse. “Follow Me,” Jesus said to him, and at the sound of those words, Matthew “left all, rose up, and followed Him” (Luke 5:27, 28).

Notice the words Luke uses to emphasize Matthew’s call into ministry. He tells us that Matthew left everything — the money, his connections within the Roman government, and the powerful position he held. He left it all — except, praise God, his gift of accurate recordkeeping! Before his conversion, his name had been Levi, the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). But after he accepted Christ’s call to ministry, Jesus gave him a new name, Matthew (“Gift of the Lord”). When Luke and Mark refer to Matthew, they identify him as Levi. But in Matthew 10:3, he refers to himself as “Matthew the tax collector” — a pointed reminder of a past he had given up.

What “old life” did you leave behind to fully follow the Son of God?

Taken from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible