Doing a bit of traveling lately and staying in hotels I have quickly learned the benefits of signs. I have learned to watch for the small signs in hotels that show the direction to go to get to specific rooms, the lobby, the restaurant and the exit. These signs are there to keep people heading in the right direction and, if necessary, to turn us around.
While we may be familiar with Jesus calling the first disciples, fishermen summoned from their work to take on new ministries, we may not be as familiar with the calling of some of the other followers. Who did Jesus see? What was Levi’s job? What did Jesus say? What did Levi do?
Scholars believe that the person known as Levi in Mark is also called by the name of Matthew when names of the twelve disciples are listed. Jesus was walking along when he encountered this man – Levi or Matthew – and saw what he was doing.
Levi was a tax collector. As such the implication is that he was a supporter and servant of the Roman government, a government that in many ways was seen as an oppressor to the Jewish faith. In that job we could say that Levi was doing the wrong thing. He was involved in worldly activities – work that focused on money and perhaps an oppression of the poor.
But Jesus came along and pointed in a new direction. He gave Levi a compass to follow. Jesus simply said, “Follow me,” and in those two words he was showing this man a new way to live.
By following Jesus Levi turned from the wrong direction, a life that was not holy and good and focused on God. Instead he turned in a new direction. He would learn to set his heart and mind and soul on the heavenly, on being kind and loving, on serving the Lord instead of mankind.
Jesus calls each of us to turn from the temptations of life. He calls each of us to leave the direction and path to destruction and heartache, and take on a new direction of spirituality. If we can follow Jesus we will be following the right and perfect guide to a life of spiritual wholeness.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What can point you in the right direction in your life?
