“And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.”

‍Mark 2:14

What an image to think of Jesus Christ heading your way to call you to arise and follow Him.  Imagine the anticipation, the excitement, and the honor of following the Son of God that tells you to stop what you are doing, get up, and come be with Him wherever He goes!!  The big question should be to us; however, like Levi (a.k.a. Matthew) are we willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice to follow Jesus Christ?

‍

When the Lord lays a calling on our hearts, we watch and pray with anticipation for that great moment when the time comes and Jesus Christ says time to go.  Sometimes we are too zealous and jump too quickly before the actual Call of God.  We end up relying too much on our flesh and not the Holy Spirit.  We want it now, but the Lord says to “hold fast until I come.”  God says to “be still and know that I am God.”  Abraham jumped too quickly at the promise of Isaac but ended up giving birth to Ishmael.  Isaac came into this world in God’s Time, not Abraham’s.  When we give way to the flesh, we give birth to the problems of the flesh.  God’s Promises are theological (God’s Word), methodical (God’s Plan), and chronological (God’s Time).  If we listen to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead will lead us in the appropriate time, to the appropriate place, and help us receive the Promise of God’s Call on our lives.

‍

Other times we are so busy looking up the road at the coming of Jesus, we may be sitting too still and miss His Call altogether.  This is why James says, “Faith without works is dead.”  Faith says know, grow, and go!!  We want to wait until we are ready, but the Lord says Arise (know), Trust Me (grow), and Follow Me (go).  Are we ever ready for anything?  Are we ever fully prepared to be a spouse, parent, or ready to take a position of leadership?  Why are we so willing to jump into every other area of our lives without hesitation, but we hesitate to follow God?  Have we gotten too comfortable being seated at our little receipt of custom known as our comfort zone?  Faith does not go into action until we put it into action.  The breakthrough happens we when we breakout of the comfort zone and follow Jesus.

‍

We need to become deaf to the noise around us and open our spiritual ears to hear the still, small Voice of God.  We need to become blinded to the circumstance and open our eyes to the Vision of God that approaches before us.  We need to put away the fears and doubts of our flesh and come alive in the confidence and strength of the Holy Spirit.  The flesh wants to sit comfortably in its little tax booth, but the Holy Spirit wants to speak the Word of God into our lives to say, “Arise and Follow Me, I’ve got something far greater and far more important for you.”

‍

Be ready to hear, listen, and move as The Call of Jesus Christ steadily approaches.  Do not let the moment pass by to make an impact for the Kingdom of God.